


Belonging Here

by MDaVinci



Category: Far Cry 3
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Consensual, Drug Use, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, Hallucinations, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, M/M, Minor Character Death, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slash, Slow Build, Spoilers, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-01
Updated: 2015-01-29
Packaged: 2018-03-04 19:43:00
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 35,205
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3086195
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MDaVinci/pseuds/MDaVinci
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jason and Grant find themselves captured by Vaas in their vacation. Grant joins the Rakyat while Jason slowly becomes a pirate. A hard choice is to be made, turn against his lover Vaas or against his manipulated brother Grant?</p><p>--</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I know this fandom is old, but I simply couldn't help myself. Please enjoy! I will update regularly

Jason glanced over at his friends and smirked. Everything was fine. His little brother Riley had just gotten his pilot license, his older brother Grant was making up with Daisy so their relationship would be stable again, and Ollie was having a nice trip on the couch next to the rest of them. They were having a nice fucking vacation and Jason wouldn’t let it get ruined by anything.  
Not his anger at Liza for cheating on him, not his jealousy at Grant for having an okay relationship again, and not even his own threatening sense of detachment from the group. Things were starting to get a little rough in his life. 

Everyone seemed to have at least one real friend, like Oliver and Vincent, but he usually felt alone in the group. Different.  
But he wouldn’t let that seep in this vacation, Jason promised himself as he downed the third shot of sambucca which was eagerly being served to them by the DJ named Doug. Jason heard vague proposals of skydiving and he felt himself nodding frantically. That was a damn great idea. Nothing could ruin this.

\--

A dizzying stench filled Jason’s nostrils as he woke up. Where was he?  
Jason opened his eyes and found them drooping back down after a few seconds. He forced himself to focus and noticed Grant sitting in front of him, tied up by the arms and legs on a chair. The sound of distant yelling became audible and Jason surprisingly noticed it was coming from Grant’s mouth.

“Let us out, you piece of shit!” his brother yelled to a man sitting in a desk chair which looked like it didn't belong anywhere near the building they were in. It was a leather chair that spun round and round, while the rest of the bunker looked like it was about to collapse, seeing as it was made out of scraps of metal and wooden plates.

“Shut the fuck up, hermano, you ungrateful piece of—“ the man in the chair stopped spinning, his voice shuddering. He let out a long breath through his nose and stood up. “I’m in a real good mood, motherfucker. Just got this fuckin’ chair from my boss. Said business was going fine. You wanna know what would’ve happened to you if business weren’t fucking fine, huh?” 

The man in red waited, black eyes glaring threateningly at his brother Grant. Grant didn’t say anything. He was looking very pissed and was probably trying to keep his mouth shut. 

“I asked you a fucking question, hermano!” he said again, taking out a gun and putting it right against Grant’s forehead. Jason panicked and let out a breath he hadn’t known he’d been holding in and the penetrating glare turned quickly to him, where it softened. “Good morning, solana. Maybe you wanna know, right? What’d happen, huh?”

It took Jason a moment to figure out what the man had been talking about, but then he realised. 

“Uh, yeah. Sure.”

The pirate smiled happily, putting the gun back in its holster. “Great, fucking great. Well, you see, after you’d have dropped here…” he made a whistling sound and mimicked an airplane with his hand, slowly letting it drop down, “And hit the ground… You’d have been sold as slaves! Fucking crazy, huh, I know. And you’d be real fucking expensive too, California boys.” 

There was a knock on the door and another voice, “Hurry up, Vaas. Choose one. I’m leaving for south.”

The pirate, who was named Vaas, nodded to himself while looking at Jason. “Sure thing, boss.”

It was silent for a moment while Vaas bit his lip and looked excitedly between the two brothers. Then he started talking again and Jason was expecting another crazy rant.

“So, amigos, time to choose, huh. I got this special deal: one for me, one for the jungle.” Vaas started walking from chair to chair, circling his preys. Jason’s eyes widened when he heard the man stopping behind him, feeling a breath on his neck. 

“Fuck, you even smell expensive, Jason. I’m gonna let you choose. You wanna stay here, all cosy and shit while your brother runs around, playing with tigers, or the other way around?”

Grant looked disgusted, his face in a deep frown, “Jason, I’ll stay. You can go out and find the rest, okay?” In his words there was an unheard promise: I’ll kill this bastard, Jason. 

Jason shifted his eyes, his brother would definitely want to be the whole hero. And, damn, didn’t he have a better chance, being in the army and all?

Vaas’s voice interrupted his stream of thoughts: “Those who stay with me will get a nice fucking bed and some new clothes. Ain’t that a nice fucking treat?”

The younger Brody nodded, more to himself than the pirate. “I’ll stay. You’re better in the jungle, Grant. Find Riley.”

Grant glared, pulling at his ties, “And leave you here? What the fuck, Jason.”

But Vaas was already skipping around the room, laughing joyfully while he called in some guards in Spanish. “Take this little bitch and get him out. Shoot if he doesn’t want to leave, only kill him if he doesn’t plan to move at all.”

The pirate stepped back, in front of Jason and took out a knife. “We’re gonna have so much fun, hermano!”


	2. Chapter 2

Jason was surprised to see Vaas only used the knife to cut open his bindings. He’d expected a whole lot of torturing on their first time alone like that. Well, maybe another time.

“There you go, Jason. You happy now, amigo?” the pirate leader asked, rubbing his hands and pulling the American out of the chair forcefully.

Jason balanced and gulped, “Not exactly happy, no, knowing there’s tigers running at my brother and that I’m in the presence of…” he motioned to the guards at the door and also a little at Vaas himself, noting his smile didn’t even falter, “pirates, I guess? Junkies? Slavers?”

Vaas laughed heartily, to which the guards exchanged a puzzled glance. “Alright, now we’re fucking done with this funny shit, come with me, I’ll show the place. Come Carlos, let’s make Jason a happy white boy.”

Jason doubted the man’s name was actually Carlos. He didn’t know why, but he could really see the man known as Vaas handing out Spanish names like it was nothing. The thought made him smile a little and he wondered what the hell was going on in his mind to smile in his situation.

As they walked through the encampment, lots of guards turned to turn and stare at Jason and the pirate leader, who still had a spring in his step. Jason looked around. There were three pirates around him, Vaas in front of him, and the rest of the men in red all looked awfully predatory. He began to feel a little queazy at all the eyes on him.

After having walked for a while, they stopped near the biggest building in the camp. Which was smaller than Jason’s house in California. It was the only building made out of solid stone and on the walls were paintings of eyes and figures, all in a variety of colours.

When Jason turned to look back at Vaas he noticed the man had his eyebrows raised, “You like my work, huh?” he remarked and Jason simply blinked quickly in reply.

The leader laughed again, putting his hands in front of his eyes and sticking out his tongue, acting like a blushing schoolboy, “Jason, don’t look at me with those big fucking eyes, you’re almost a fucking puppy, jesuscristo!”

The Brody brother then just glared at Vaas, how could he act like this? He was a leader, right?

“Aren’t you supposed to lock me up somewhere?” he snapped.

Vaas slowly lifted one hand from his eyes and tutted, “Now, don’t be rude, hermano, that’s not nice. Of course I’m not gonna lock you up, motherfucker, you’re on of us now.” The leader turned around to open the door and the guards ushered him in, not walking in with them, instead standing guard in front of the door.

“One of you?” Jason hissed, eyes wide, “One of you… slaver-junkies? What the hell?”

Vaas shook his head, “Alright, you wanna fucking do business first, huh? I’ll tell you now. I own you. You’re my bitch right fucking now. This is my fucking kingdom, you get me? And what we’re gonna do here, is teach you all sorts of shit so you’re not gonna be that white pussy that you are now, bueno? The plan is, tomorrow we go hunting. Teach you how to shoot, kill some boars, whatever. Then we’ll see, okay?”

Jason grimaced, not liking the idea of killing. “I gotta save my friends. My little brother, Riley…”

Vaas huffed, throwing his arms up, “No way, Jason, I show you this hospitality and all you can do is fucking moan about it? Fuck you!”

The room was dark except for a few lit candles which shimmered behind Vaas’s back, bringing light on his shoulders and muscled arms. The shadows flickered in a way that made Jason incredibly tired. Jason could make out a bed at the end of the wall. Well, it was just a mattress with some furs covering it, but it looked good enough right now. More than good.

“Can I sleep there?” Jason asked, pointing at the cosy looking mattress in the corner.

Vaas looked over his shoulder to see where Jason was pointing at and he grinned in reply, “That’s my bed, but if you’re really that eager, I’ll allow it just this once, huh? Nice and warm, together. Fucking cuddling, sì?”

Jason scrunched up his nose in disgust, quickly throwing the thoughts he just had about how nice Vaas’s muscles looked out of the window. “I’d, erm…”

“No fucking sweat, hermano, you bed is in the next room. Fucking white boys.”

 

It appeared that Jason had his own room, twice as small as Vaas’s was, the windows shielded by wood, but at least there was a small pink light bulb hanging from the ceiling. It gave the room an odd glow, almost like a shady brothel or something.

The mattress here was smaller and had some cuts in it, but it was fine. Jason found the atmosphere relaxed him and hoped it wasn’t for the strong smell of marijuana around him which made him feel so calmed down.

His eyes scanned around the room once more. He couldn’t believe he was here. Where was ‘here’, actually? The DJ called Doug told them it was just a nice island near the Rook Islands, with beautiful nature. Jason had looked forward to photographing. Shit, the pirates must’ve taken his camera too.

The American rolled on his side, curling in on his own body. Where would Grant be right now? If he had a gun, then maybe he could handle tigers. Grant was strong. He’d survive. But what about his other friends? Easily panicked Oliver, for instance. Or Riley. Damn, poor Riley. And he hadn’t even congratulated him on his license yet.

Jason let his thoughts whirl around until he couldn’t think anymore, letting the warmth of the furs slowly urge him into sleep.

-

_"In another moment down went Alice after it, never once considering how in the world she was to get out again."_

-

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vaas plans a little bit of fun!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for the kudos and bookmarks already! I hope I won't disappoint you guys, it really helps me to write knowing what you think. Enjoy!
> 
> ((I haven't beta'd any of the chapters, if you're interested in doing something like that, you can message me!))

Vaas woke Jason not-so-carefully by poking a stick against his face. He’d been watching the young Californian for a few minutes or so. About ten. Or twenty, who cares, right? To him, Jason Brody looked like the typical fucking white American bitch. Spoiled face, cowardly eyes and a shirt made by a brand Vaas hadn’t seen or heard of his entire life.

His chin showed the slightest of stubble and it made Vaas snort. It really wasn’t that manly, especially with those pretty-boy lips he was sporting.

“The fuck—“ the man said after finally waking up, he must’ve been in quite a deep sleep. His green eyes blinked open grudgingly, glaring at him. His hair was looking even more messy than it was yesterday.

Vaas just grinned, “Buenos dias, sunshine,” he said, kissing his hand and blowing it to Jason, “You sleep so fucking long, you know, sun’s been up for fucking hours. Lazy motherfucker.”

Jason yawned and Vaas really forced himself to look away now, standing up. The bitch was being too cute for his own good. 

“What are we gonna do?” Jason asked, pulling a face after he smelled one of his armpits, which made Vaas let out a maniacal laughter. 

“Get you new clothes, like I promised, hermano. You stink like shit.” He opened the door and led Jason out, careful to eye him closely. Jason still had ideas about his friends, whom he really ought to forget. This island wasn’t a place for fucking sentiment. It was kill or be killed.

His right-hand man Carlos was already guarding the door and Vaas gave him a pat on the back. Carlos was good. He found out when some pirates were plotting against him and took them all out, respectively. Since that day, Vaas had always chosen to have Carlos by his side.

“Today, Jason, we are going to have some fun with another slave. Her name’s Sophie and she’s got real nice black fucking hair, really your type, also from America.” Vaas opened one of the buildings, hurrying inside and grabbing some of the stuff. Jason’s camera, a red singlet and… a map. But he wouldn’t give that yet, too risky.

“Here, amigo, your stuff. You’ll get a gun later on. Now take off that dirty shirt, it’s still fucking gross.”  
Jason glared at the pirate, slowly stripping off his clothes, probably making sure the pirate wouldn’t suddenly change his mind and kill him, but Vaas enjoyed the show nonetheless. The younger man did look around the camp uneasily, though, and Vaas followed his gaze to see his men all staring curiously at the boy. 

“Hey, fuck off, amigos, you don’t get to fucking stare at Jason, it’s making him uncomfortable, get the fuck out!” his men quickly scurried away, tails between their paws.

—

Jason felt terribly awkward out in the open like this. The idea of meeting a slave captured here wasn’t as appealing as Vaas made it seem at all. He quickly threw on the new singlet and the pirate leader clapped his hands, skipping ahead.

The other pirate, named Carlos, pushed Jason forward to follow him and Jason sent him a glare which was returned just as quickly. He wasn’t sure whether these people would ever become something close to friends to him. Even after getting his camera back he was unsure about the entire situations, which was more than logical to him.

It was, right? This wasn’t hospitality. These people weren’t his friends. They were murderers.

Slowly, they left the encampment and the jungle was quick to appear all around them. There were vines hanging around the trees and a moist atmosphere hung in the air. Jason thought he could spot a weird looking bird a few metres away behind some bushes. It was walking like a chicken, but had big feathers and was about thrice the size. Wasn’t it a cassowary? He wasn’t sure.

Vaas walked a few metres in front of them, looking like his mood couldn’t get better. Jason wondered whether the man was ever constantly grumpy, or something. Sure, he’d already seen him pissed off an awful lot of times, but afterwards he was quick to grin again like some sort of humanised Cheshire cat. 

“And here, ladies and gentleman, is my beautiful beach, take a look at my island, Jason, okay?” 

And Jason had to admit, it was beautiful. The sun shining brightly over the water, the cliffs covered in green vines next to them and trees holding a perfect place to sit in the shades. It looked like paradise. He was struck by the urge to take a photograph. Only not far away, there was a girl with black hair, tied up on the ground by some other pirates. Next to her sat two men, looking very frightful upon seeing Vaas.

Their eyes quickly looked over at Jason as they started begging, “Please, sir, help us, come on, we’re good men.” beside them was just the sound of the girl crying softly. It made Jason’s heart ache a little. She looked so vulnerable.

“Take a seat, Jason, hermano. This is gonna be fun.” Vaas said and motioned for Jason to sit on the beach, some metres away from the captured slaves who kept on with their pathetic begging.

He went over the the girl, kneeling beside her and taking her face in his hands. He looked almost empathetic, holding her gently. “How are you Sophie?” he asked.

The girl sobbed a little, “My name is Jennifer.”

“We’re gonna play a little game, Sophie, okay? Just like wheels of fortune,” Vaas drawled, looking over at Jason and smiling at him, “Except without the wheels. And without much fortune.” he took the girl by the chin gently, urging her to look at him again. “I want you to decide… who deserves it more to die.”

All of the prisoners began whimpering then, begging “No, no, no…”, the girl shook her head wildly, but Vaas was having none of it. Jason looked with wide eyes at the scene playing out in front of him. This was crazy. 

Vaas pulled the girl up, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. “Either you choose him,” he made a whistling sound, “Or him.” he took his gun, loading it and taking the safety click off. “Either way… these men, they don’t know your name. Your real, fucking, name.” a truly amused smiled spread out on Vaas’s face as he held the gun together with the girl, helping her aim.

Jason was utterly speechless, he wasn’t sure what to do. Were this the kind of games they were playing at? Was this what he was going to become?

“Okay,” the pirate leader continued, “Music please.”

And at that signal, the two men kneeling in front of them began giving gross sobs, arguing over who she should shoot, giving reasons. Apparently one of them had kids, but the other got angry and said it was a lie. They started fighting a bit, calling each other liars, but before it could really get out of hand, a shot rang out mixed with a high-pitched scream from Jennifer. 

Jason assumed the show was over now, but it continued with Vaas walking forward to the other man, who screamed: “You fucking who—“ when another shot came. 

Vaas looked utterly surprised, even though he was the one guiding the girl, “Wow!” he yelled, looking at Jason in utmost amusement and mock-surprise, “Can you believe it, Jason?” he turned back to Jennifer, “I give you one, you take two!”

“No! You did it!” she yelled, grabbing her head in her hands.

“Oh… you’re greedy, you!” Vaas continued, shaking his head. 

Jason stared with open mouth, what the actual fuck. He almost let out a laugh at the absurdity of the entire scene. “You killed them both.” he commented dumbly and Vaas looked at him like he was incredibly surprised by the statement.

“No, I didn’t, hermano, she did it. It was crazy. That bitch is fucking crazy. Let’s go, Jason, enough with the fun. We’re gonna hunt. This bitch has a better aim than you, right now, you gotta learn how to handle a real fucking gun.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for sticking with me! The ball is starting to roll in this chapter, so please enjoy!
> 
> ((Thanks so much for the kudos, I love you all <3))

“You shouldn’t have killed them both, Vaas.” Jason grumbled, running a hand through his hair. He really hadn’t expected that whole scene to play out in front of him as it did.

Vaas turned to stare at Jason, eyebrows raised, “So now that it’s over you complain, huh?” he asked, but Jason didn’t give him an answer, knowing it made Vaas pissed whenever he ignored him. 

After a few seconds of intense glaring (and Carlos sighing audibly at them), Vaas huffed angrily and continued the walk through the jungle, fingers twitching at his sides. Jason smirked, somehow he liked teasing the pirate leader. He seemed to adore Jason being compliant to him, but whenever he had a different opinion he’d snarl.

“Crouch down, hermano. There’s a boar nearby. Remember: no kill, no food.” Vaas urged Carlos to crouch down as well by swinging his hands down in a way that just wasn’t stealthy.

Jason did obey this time, resisting the urge to be a pain in the ass. Food seemed heavenly to him, the last he’d eaten was some weird stuff in the club in Bangkok. 

The three of them moved forward, Vaas sniffing the air several times, “There it is, Jason…” he crouched behind the younger man, pushing the gun in his hand and helping him aim by wrapping an arm around his. “Don’t hold it like that, amigo, you’re not a fucking cop. Recoil’s a bitch, too, so watch out.”

Jason gulped, feeling the heaviness in his hands as Vaas let his arms go. It was a black gun, the same he’d used to kill the two men with. It wasn’t that big, it actually fit in his hand perfectly. 

“Hold steady, you’re trembling, Jason,” Vaas murmured in his ear, sounding like he was trying really hard to hold in his laughter, “You see that, Carlos? He’s fucking shaking.”

Jason growled, falling for the taunt and readying his gun, gripping it tighter and aiming at the boar which was sniffing the ground with snorting sounds. He bit his lip in concentration and shot, the sound piercing the air and making his eyes close in surprise. 

After a second he opened them, able to hear the sounds of a dying boar. “I got it?” he asked, his voice shaking as much as his hands. 

“You did, Jason! Nice fucking shot, right in the neck.” Vaas cheered, jumping up from behind the bushes to get their kill.

“F-Fuck…” Jason mumbled as he came closer to the boar, looking at all the blood that was pouring out. At first the feeling of shooting gave him a surge of adrenaline, but right now he simply felt sick. “I-Is it… dead?” he asked, shakily.

Vaas smiled proudly up at him, gesturing for Carlos to haul the boar up. “Yeah, it’s dead, hermano. Dead as fuck. At first it was still dying, you’re such a motherfucker, Jason, letting it bleed out like that. That’s crazy.”

Jason let out another breath, looking at Carlos for support. Carlos eyed him warily, one eyebrow raised. 

“I feel faint…” he ground out after the stench of blood reached his nose.

Vaas cried out a laugh, shaking his head, “You’re fucking pale, Jason! A real Snow White, that’s what you are. Come on, don’t be a pussy.”

—

After returning to the camp, Jason felt calm again. He had ended the life of one boar brutally, but at least he had food. The pirates in the camp patted him on the shoulder once or twice and he almost felt proud for having provided dinner that night.

Vaas walked off with the boar, ordering people around on how to cut and cook it on the fire. In the mean time, Jason was alone and sitting next to Carlos, who was polishing his rifle.

“You always have to hunt for food here?” Jason asked, eyeing Carlos out of the corner of his eye.

Carlos simply said “no”, not saying anything else. Jason urged him on by continuing to stare at him, to which the other pirate glared. “Usually there’s food in the camps, but Hoyt cut down on food for the Northern Island. Says we ought to hunt, like savages.” he stayed silent for a second before continuing, “Vaas liked having you shoot it. It’s the first kill of the month, so the rest of us are thankful too.”

“Wait—what do you mean Northern Island? There’s more? Islands, I mean?” 

Carlos pursed his lips, his eyes narrowing. He looked like he wouldn’t say much more, probably because Vaas was walking up to them, grin in place and cigar between his teeth. 

“Jason, Carlos, amigos!” he shuffled right between them on the wooden leg, forcing both men to awkwardly move and make place for the pirate leader. He was still sitting too close for comfort, seeing as the log wasn’t all that big to begin with. Carlos didn’t seem the least bit surprised or annoyed. He was always so silent…

“I brought you food here,” Vaas handed them the pieces of meat and Jason thanked him softly. “No, thank you, hermano. You killed it, sì?” 

Jason shrugged. Feeling the gun sitting heavily in its holster on his belt. Carlos had helped him adjust it on Jason. “So, am I keeping your gun now?”

“Wasn’t mine, hermano, stole it from a corpse. But it’s pretty fucking good, so yeah, keep it.”

So he got to keep a gun, his camera and also had a little information about the island. Maybe if he pretended to belong here just a bit longer, it’d be easier to escape. Yeah, just obey them, work for them and then leave.

—

It had been about four days since Jason had made his prideful kill and since that day he’d been more included in the group with all kinds of things. He’d even had Carlos explain some things for him about what was going on in the island. The natives protecting their jungle and the pirates protecting their ground. It seemed there was quite a battle going on between the two parties.

Jason hadn’t seen Vaas in a while though, but Carlos was insistent on taking his place by following him wherever he went. Even when he was simply taking a stroll around the camp.

Today a few pirates were planning on a hunt to stock them up for another couple of days and Jason was eager to join them and leave Carlos behind in the camp for a while. The pirates hadn’t even been all that against the idea of taking Jason with them and soon he was accepted and crouching through the jungle with them. Evading vines and looking around with sharp eyes. He marvelled at the thought of how much skill and knowledge he’d gotten in just a few days.

The young Brody wasn’t planning on escaping right now. He figured he’d earn much more trust if he helped them doing expeditions and hunts like these. Besides, he started enjoying the jungle much more than before. The smell and animals and danger of walking around through unknown territories. 

They’d already walked a couple of miles and passed a beautiful waterfall, of which Jason made a photograph. Why not use his camera when he had it, right? 

One of the pirates, another hispanic whose name was José, put a finger to his mouth and pointed in front of him, his expression hard. Jason looked up and saw what made the pirate’s eyes looking so unsure. There were men, holding rifles which looked like AK-47s. They wore blue shirts and sported tattoos on their arms and even on their faces. 

Jason readied his gun and so did the rest. “Wait,” he whispered and the pirates frowned at him. “Let me handle this.”

Jason slowly arose from the bushes hands up in the air and gun back in its holster, all the rifles were suddenly pointed at him and he continued, trying to calm down, “I come in peace, uh… I’m Jason.” he walked forwards and before he knew it one of the men walked up to him cautiously. The last thing he noticed was a hard crack against his skull of the native who had hit him with the back of his rifle. Distantly, he could make up the sound of distant gunshots and yelling.

Fuck… these men were the natives Carlos had been telling him about, right? Weren’t they supposed to be the good ones?


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I am updating every day, please let me know what you think or if you want something to happen, your comments and thoughts inspire me to write!

Jason thought he was really getting far too familiar with the feeling of waking up somewhere he wasn’t when he was still awake. And also being tied up, for that matter.  
He knew blows to the head could be lethal, but his dizziness wasn’t that bad and he didn’t feel like vomiting, which were both very good signs.

As he opened his eyes, however, the dizziness and headache did start. The light was strong in the room and it made him feel as if he was spinning on his chair. Spinning like Vaas had done the first time he met him. Going round and round and round…

Jason let out a shuddery breath, hoping to calm himself. A black man with glasses was sitting in front of him, eyes glaring and apathetic. “What’s a pirate like you doing here?” 

“I fucking surrendered to your men, you ask them why they decided to bring me here.” Jason spit, showing his teeth like a wild animal.

The man in front of him frowned and shook his head.

“What the hell did you do to my men?” Jason continued.

“We killed them. They were pirates. There’s only one reason we haven’t killed you, yet…”

—

Vaas Montenegro was fucking sick of Hoyt. ‘Vaas, show some more respect’, ‘Vaas, stop scaring the hostages’ and ‘Vaas, stop killing my privateers because they annoy you’. Fucking bullshit. And now he’d had to go away from Jason for two entire days simply to hear Hoyt talking absolute crap about his men.

One day, he’d kill Hoyt. Wouldn’t that be nice. Vaas still remembered the days when Hoyt and him were some sort of buddies. At least, Vaas had thought that they were. Reflecting on it now made him realise there was never any friendship, just pure and simple manipulation. He’d been young and naive and frankly going crazy on some messed up drugs he was obsessed with at that time. Mushrooms or something.

Walking with loud steps into his camp, he announced: “I’m back, motherfuckers!” after which he stomped towards his house and sagged down on the steps to smoke something.

Only then did he notice half of his pirates were gone and Carlos was walking up to him, his jaw clenched and eyes dark. 

“Don’t fucking tell me there’s bad news, Carlos, for fuck’s sake, I’m pissed off already.”

Carlos was unaffected by the statement, “Jason and a few others went out to hunt. I heard gunshots and checked, all the pirates were dead-” Vaas’s heart dropped, “But Jason wasn’t there. I suspect he’s been taken. Probably at the Rakyat camp in North Cradle.”

Vaas shook his head, trying to control the emotions running through him. “I leave you fuckers alone one fucking minute, huh?” he said, but Carlos looked unmoved, “C’mon let’s find that piece of shit and save his ass. Ready some men, we’ll leave as soon as fucking possible.”

 

After shouting some ‘encouragements’ at his pirates about hurrying the fuck up, they were finally leaving in two cars, packed with pirates to save Snow White. Vaas took out his own silver gun and loaded it with the best bullets he could find. They were silver and would soon land in any fucker’s forehead of who’d dared touch Jason Brody. 

The ride to North Cradle wasn’t long, seeing as Vaas’s own camp was set up not far away from the place. The car rode through, bumping on the road because of the speed Vaas forced them to keep. 

“Let’s show those motherfuckers hell, amigos!” the pirate leader yelled as they neared the camp, holding his gun high. The pirates screamed their agreements and jumped out of the car to run towards the camp. Vaas joined them eagerly and raised his gun to an unsuspecting native guarding the door of a building. He shot, right through the head, and the native fell to the ground, surprise written over his face.

Not soon after, hell broke loose. His pirates brutally killed any natives they saw, gunshots echoing and cries of the fallen men on the background. Vaas walked to the building with quick steps, shooting one of the Rakyat in his chest three times before continuing. Usually he had the decency to look at his victims dying, but right now there was only one thing on his mind: stupid, fucking, Jason Brody.

—

When Jason heard cars approaching, followed by the sound of shots and screams, the Rakyat leader (or whatever he was), had already left. To ‘sent an important message’ or something. Well, one thing for sure, he’d never trust those people again.

Jason kept silent, wondering if it was okay to yell out Vaas’s name. He’d heard Vaas was there, hearing the Spanish shout motivations for his team. Jason decided it was okay to yell.

“Vaas! I’m here!” Jason looked around, just to make sure, “I’m alone, no guards.” 

Not soon after, the door opened and Vaas barged in, looking nothing like the joyful pirate he’d been the last few days.

“You fucking bitch, Jason. Do you have any idea how worried I was?” the pirate moved around his chair, letting his anger out on Jason’s bindings. Only after he’d cut the ropes and moved back to face him, Jason noticed the wound on his left shoulder. It wasn’t a bullet wound though, but it was bleeding freely. 

“What happened?” he asked, rubbing his sore wrists and looking at the pirate who was currently kneeling in front of him to cut the ropes on his legs. His voice was gentler than he’d have suspected it to be.

“What? You mean you running the fuck off and getting captured?”

“I didn’t run off,” Jason snapped, “I was talking about your shoulder.”

Vaas waved his hand, as if to wave the subject away, “Some of the Rakyat think it’s fucking funny to try and kill people with knives. The fucker was slow and I noticed, so it’s a slash wound instead of a stab.” It was silent for a few seconds as Jason stood up, stretching himself. “You’re not hurt right?”

Jason shook his head. Vaas was standing in front of him now. Only then did he notice Vaas wasn’t even that much taller compared to Jason. He just had a way of looking down on him… but at the moment he didn’t even look all that angry like his words had shown. His face was scrunched up in concern and it made Jason grin.

“What the fuck are you smiling at?” the pirate leader demanded, crossing his well-defined arms in front of his chest.

“Nothing, you just looked…” well, finding a word to describe Vaas packed out to be quite a challenge. Insane but in a good way? Adorable, but like a mad wolf? “Cute.” Jason finished, very pleased with the way Vaas looked surprised.

“Alright, well, you better fucking follow me back to camp, Jason.” Vaas muttered, an unsure smile threatening to break out on his lips.

“Of course.”


	6. Chapter 6

Jason was sitting behind Vaas, carefully cleaning his slashing wound. He’d mumbled about the blood all seeping into Vaas’s singlet, but the man didn’t care at all. It was good the thing was red itself, or it would’ve looked dirty as fuck.

“Are you sure we can disinfect it with… vodka?” Jason asked incredulously.

“You got something better, Doctor fucking Brody?”

Jason rolled his eyes and started disinfecting the wound, feeling small thrills going through him whenever Vaas hissed a little. It wasn’t like he wanted the other man to be in pain, but it was just nice to see that he was actually human.

Jason wrapped a bandage around his shoulder tightly and applied pressure for the few following seconds before feeling it was enough.

“We should shave your head, Jason.” Vaas’s voice came, sounding determined

“No fucking way, Vaas.”

“Okay, just two sides, then. You’ll get a mohawk like me, really cool.”

Jason let out a laugh, “I said no, holy shit.”

“One side?”

Jason thought about it, “Wouldn’t that just look stupid?”

Vaas turned around, excited that the idea wasn’t being swatted away with a ‘no’ immediately, “No, no, no, amigo, especially with your hair! Your hair’s wild, it’ll be cool.” the leader reached out a hand to touch Jason’s hair, but the younger man wasn’t expecting it and evaded the hand quickly.

They looked at each other uneasily until Jason smiled again, shaking his head. “Well… okay. One side, okay? The rest is safe.”

Vaas nodded frantically, taking a knife out of his belt. Brody raised his eyebrows at him.

“You’re gonna cut my hair with a knife?”

“You gonna pussy out now, hermano?”

“I wasn’t saying that.” _you idiot,_ Jason added in his mind.

Vaas stood up and started rummaging through the closet next to the bed. All kinds of stuff came out, among it packs of cocaine, weed, syringes and the needed scissors. “I’m gonna cut it off with a scissor first and then finish it with the knife, okay?”

Jason nodded silently, letting the man do his job. Vaas sagged down behind him on the bed now, taking Jason’s head in his hands with more care than he could ever have expected.  
The last time he saw it was when Vaas was managing the crazy scene between Jennifer and the other hostages. This time, however, it felt more real.

His dark brown hair fell down in locks, tickling his ear and falling onto his shoulders. Jason focussed more on Vaas’s fingers, holding him gently by the chin and moving his face in another direction if needed. He worked quick and elegantly, in a way he’d see an artist paint upon a canvas.

“Now the knife part, amigo. I did this with myself and it looks good as fuck, so no bitching.”

Jason let him shave it off, feeling the blade swishing close to his ear. A shudder ran through him at the feeling, and just at the moment, Vaas decided to drop his hands a little lower to move along his neck.

At the end of the shave, Jason’s face had gotten a little red and Vaas had whistled at him more than once. “You look so good, Jason.”

And there was no biting-grin on his face when he said. Nothing mocking or degrading. Just a lopsided smile.

—

_ " 'Oh, you can't help that,' said the Cat: 'we're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad.'  _

_ 'How do you know I'm mad?' said Alice.  _

_ 'You must be,' said the Cat, 'or you wouldn't have come here.' " _

_ - _

And Jason did feel better with his hair like this. It was wild. His friends would’ve thought it was inappropriate, but Jason loved it this way. These days, Vaas would only let him hunt when either he or Carlos was there to watch him. And Jason understood, really. He didn’t want to fall in the hands of the Rakyat again anytime soon.

And he’d almost call Vaas a friend these days. Sometimes they’d sit together on Vaas’s bed, with the pirate leader smoking something that smelled weird and Jason just being there as a safe presence.

Right now was one of those moments. Vaas, bottle of vodka in one hand and a cigar in the other, was leaning heavily against Jason’s shoulder. Breathing calmly and blowing smoke rings into the air.

“You know,” Jason started, knowing the pirate leader was okay with _his_ crazy rants too, “I wonder what’s happened to Grant. And Riley, and my other friends. Mostly Riley, though, he’s the best brother I could ever have wished for and I’ve never told him anything like that.”

 

Vaas tensed noticeably by his side, downing quite a big gulp of vodka in one go, “Amigo, I know I should’ve told you earlier, but I forgot and now I have to tell you.” he sat up a little, the relaxation that had been drawn over his posture like a sleepy haze entirely replaced by tensed muscles.

Jason clenched his jaw, what the hell did that mean. “What the fuck are you talking about, Vaas?”

The pirate let out a tense laugh, “Jason, hermano, calm the fuck down, okay… It’s your teeny brother Riley. My boss, Hoyt, he said something about Buck having him. You know the guy named Buck? No? Oh, of course you fucking don’t. Well he’s a little piece of fuck who fucks up my business and takes whatever he wants. Right now it’s, uh… yeah, your teeny bro Riley.”

Jason let it seep through, the words, the anger, whatever. Everything. “And when, exactly, did you know that?” he asked, voice low and threatening.

Vaas huffed, rolling his eyes, “Two days maybe, who knows? I don’t. I forgot, jesuscristo…”

“That’s my fucking brother, Vaas! And you simply forgot?”

\--

In fact, Vaas hadn’t really forgotten it all that much. He’d known it for four days, since the last day he’d visited Hoyt, in fact. But he’d been having such a nice fucking time with Jason and he knew Jason would leave him when he heard the news, but now it was even worse: Jason was /pissed/ and he was gonna leave.

But when Jason had started speaking about his brother Riley that way, the urge to tell him had overcome Vaas and he’d let it out like some idiot. And now Jason was definitely not coming back for him.

But their time together had been so fucking pleasant for Vaas and he wouldn’t let that get away so easily. At the moment, Jason was yelling on at him about how much of a jerk he was, but Vaas was only half listening.

“I can’t let you go, Jason.” he murmured, sounding as dark as his mind had become, also due to the drugs.

“Well, I’m leaving anyway. Where the hell is that Buck you were talking about?”

Vaas growled, running his hands over his face. He didn’t want Jason to leave, but hearing him angry at him was so fucking annoying, it hurt his head more than anything. “Don’t fucking scream, okay?!” Vaas shouted, hands gripping his face, “Don’t. Fucking. Scream.”

Jason scanned his face, eyes softening ever so slightly. “Where’s Buck? You must understand I have to save Riley, Vaas. I can bring him here. You wouldn’t mind, right? There has to be a safe building for him here somewhere.”

The pirate leader’s eyebrows rose high, “You’re gonna return?”

Jason snorted, “Well, obviously.”

Vaas let out a high laugh, looking slightly quizzical, “Really?”

Jason rolled his eyes then and Vaas could only laugh more. “That’s amazing, Jason. Let’s fucking save your brother Riley!”

“I’m gonna do it alone, Vaas. And I insist on that.”


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Your comments made me so happy, I immediately started writing again and here is the result! Thank you <3

Jason really insisted on doing this alone, Vaas could only get in more danger when he came with him. The pirate leader had explained about the Southern Island now: it was Hoyt Volker’s island, filled with privateers. Their bases were apparently much tougher and their men often came from the army.

So the plan was, Jason would go to Buck’s house, sneaking past the privateers in the village, and see if he could take out this Buck. Vaas had warned him, though, the man could summon guards in the blink of an eye and if Jason said one word wrong, he’d have Riley killed.

There was no way he’d let that happen though. 

He’d packed his gun, a sniper rifle, a knife and a map Vaas had given him after their little argument yesterday. Even Carlos had come up to him to show him some moves on how to block attacks. Then he’d left without saying another word about it.

Jason had first gone back to Vaas for another second, though, looking at the man sitting in front of the fire, letting his fingers almost touch the flames.

“You’re gonna be okay, right? Vaas?” Jason asked, sitting down next to the man and looking at his frighteningly neutral face. Only his eyes looked dark, shimmering in the fire.

There was no answer for a while, only Vaas’s annoyed sigh. “I just thought you weren’t gonna come back, amigo. I don’t fucking care anymore, just go save that little shit.” the pirate leader waved his hand through the top of the fire again.

“I will. And I’ll also come back. Alive, for that matter.” Jason said, grinning. He stood up, patted Vaas on the good shoulder twice and left for Riley. It was gonna be a long ride.

—

Daisy Lee had been brought to a pirate outpost by a convoy. She’d managed to spit on almost everyone that’d brought her here, but in return she had lots of bruises and cuts covering her face and arms. The other prisoners kept looking her as if she was crazy. Their eyes begged: ‘keep silent, just obey! It’ll get better!’, but she didn’t trust any of that.

Before this had happened and even before her career in professional swimming, she’d been one of the stronger girls of her high school, making sure she knew some fighting tricks whenever she was walking through the dark streets of her hometown in Maine. 

But even if she was strong, she was not nearly as strong as five men tackling her to the ground and binding her up. Keeping her arms behind her back.

The pirates led her out of the convoy, first four of them, but one left to stand by some other guards. The camp looked terrible and it smelled like the worst mix of sweat and drugs. After a few minutes of standing silently, one of the other prisoners started yelling. It was the man that was with her. He’d cut his ropes and was throwing punches like an angry bear. Daisy noticed her guards fixation on the event and saw them stepping towards it to help. She saw her chance and took it. Right along the buildings she ran and ran, hearing the sound of gunshots at her feet which made her whimper. She had to keep going!

Daisy ran, unbeknownst to what danger she ran through. The forest was big, but that wasn’t the problem. Not even the wild animals were the problem which could give her a slow death. Daisy Lee was running through a field of antiaras, also known as Upas trees. As soon as she felt a cut on her arm appearing, the poison was inside of her bloodstream. 

—

Jason had taken one of the cars and was driven safely through the outer roads of the island. He often passed other pirates, who ignored him and assumed he was a pirate because of his red shirt. Maybe the haircut was helping too…

The last mile on the Northern Island had to be made while walking, so he climbed out of the car, gun at the ready. Unfortunately for Jason though, this place was well known for bears. 

He tried to get out of the car with as little sound as possible, which succeeded, but then he also had to sneak past the stream of water where two black bears were drinking. Jason pushed through the bushes, walking up the mountain a little to go as far away from the bears as possible. If he looked to his left right now, he’d see the bears sniffing in the air. 

The growling sounds the beasts made, got Jason shuddering and he stopped for a second to tell his furiously beating heart to calm down for a second. After a few deep breaths he continued again, moving along the trees and through the shadows. A few more metres and he’d be at the beach. 

Jason followed the stream as it got smaller and smaller until it flowed into the sea. The sun was piercing his eyes, but the adrenaline made him grin like a madman. This was only the first half of his journey, but he felt like the king of the world. The only thing he needed to do now was cross the sea between the North and the Southern Island. There, in a place called Badtown, he’d find Buck. Or at least, that’s what Vaas had told him.

—

After having run for half an hour, Daisy’s breathing started to come out raggedly. Her sight was starting to get worse and she felt dizzy. So very dizzy. How could this have happened, she thought, running over everything she’d done that do, everything she’d eaten. The pirates hadn’t given her some drug right?

Daisy felt her knees starting to tremble below her lithe body, the ground shaking and the rainforest spinning.

“W-What’s… happening?” she let out a small sob and steadied herself against a tree. Just over the hill was an ancient ruin. She’d seen it. She had to go there, had to keep walking.

But the first step Daisy took was already too much: her knees gave in and her body fell roughly on the stony path.

—

Jason stepped out of the boat, eyeing the smoke on the top of the mountain nearby. Maybe he could try taking out a privateer camp, right? He felt so positive and strong, this just had to go right. The American ran up against the hill, grabbing onto stones and climbing up. From here he could really see the camp. It wasn’t bigger than Vaas’s camp was, but these guys had watchtowers made out of metal and men with helmets and thick armour.

Jason took out his sniper rifle, lying down in the bushes to scan the premises. On top of the watch tower was one man, holding a sniper as well. On the other watch tower was no one, but a guard kept patrolling in front of it. Further in the camp were three men talking together and last but not least: a heavily armoured giant, holding a machine gun that even seemed heavy to him.

Jason licked his lips. What was the plan? First, with his silenced sniper rifle, he’d take out the sniper on the roof. He’d take in his position and shoot the guard patrolling the other tower. But then there were the three men plus the giant. Maybe he should just leave it up to Lady Luck. Try shooting out the men by sniper and see what’ll happen.

The man nodded to himself, shifting slightly and pointing his rifle at the sniper. He inhaled deeply and held his breath, eyes narrowing in concentration. Jason aimed for the head and triggered. It hit. The sniper fell down.

Jason looked at the other privateers immediately, but none of them had noticed. He quickly made his way up to the tower, evading the guard’s vision before climbing up the long set of stairs. Once up, he waited for the guard to be out of sight of the others and shot once more. It hit again and the privateer fell into the bushes behind him. Nicely out of sight.

Jason smirked in triumph. Now, part two of the plan: kill the rest. Jason aimed his sniper and shot, shooting the privateer in the middle of the group, but alarming the rest of them. He tried to aim at the other men’s heads too, but they kept moving and pointing. Eventually they spread over the camp, searching for their attacker. Two of them came up to the watchtower and Jason waited patiently before one of them was with him on the top.

He stepped away from his hiding spot and raised his gun, “Peek a boo.” he shot the man right through his forehead, his helmet not helping the slightest bit within the range Jason had shot.

The other guard ran up the stairs, finding Jason there. 

“He’s here!” the privateer called, but Jason immediately shot before the privateer could even raise his gun. Twice, in his chest. 

He looted the bodies and found some cash and bullets, leaving the drugs in their pockets. He didn’t think it was romantic to give Vaas some stolen cocaine, but hey, maybe the pirate leader would think it incredibly thoughtful.

Jason quickly walked down the steps, checking around him to see if no one had called any back-up or if he'd missed someone. Jason saw no one and crawled further toward the giant. He stood up and jumped, plunging his knife right into the giant’s shoulder. The man tried to shake Jason off, but he stabbed the knife back in again, and again. Three times in total. Blood was leaking off the privateer’s neck and Jason noted his hands were covered in the thick red liquid. 

But at least the camp was his now. Jason smirked and wiped the blood off on his pants. He’d never felt so good. So utterly proud and in-place. 

Jason knew now, he could handle this Buck. Whatever happened, Buck couldn’t be worse than a camp of privateers, right?


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jason meets up with his buddy Buck.

When Daisy woke up, there were men around her. About three in total. Her fuzzy mind immediately noted is as a threat and she threw up her arms to defend herself, at least, that was what she had been planning, but her arms were tied up behind her back.

Upon further examination, as Daisy dared looking around, the men weren’t pirates. They had tattoos covering their faces and their eyes were soft and calm. 

Daisy looked around herself, still wary. She was seated between four closed walls, vines hanging around her and the floor slightly wet. Every few seconds a small droplet of water fell down to the ground.

She was about to ask why she was there, but she noticed she had been gagged. Not even the pirates had taken such measures to silence. Anger kicked in and she started kicking her legs around. The men with the tattoos came up to her quickly, trying to calm her.

“No struggle, no struggle, we help your wounds.” one of them said in broken English, pointing to her arm which was wrapped in bandages. “You want it off?” he asked again, pointing now at her gag, which was a foul tasting piece of cloth.

She rolled her eyes and nodded, to which the man carefully removed the cloth. Daisy breathed out, closing her eyes to calm herself for a second.

“Who are you?” she asked finally, glaring.

“We are friends. You are friend of our friend. The warrior. You stay here, warrior will come, soon.”

Warrior? Was this a native tribe to the island or something? They didn’t sound or look like globalisation had had any effect on them so far. Their voices had a strong accent that Daisy couldn’t quite place. She was ashamed to admit that to her it just sounded like black people’s voices, having no idea what country they came from.

The men started to retreat, leaving her water and a piece of bread which really looked like it had seen better days.

“Wait! Hey! My hands are still tied up!”

But the man had already closed the door behind them.

—

Jason arrived at the town called Badtown with a bad feeling in his chest. Every one of the privateers he saw was looking at him with a snarl, which almost made him suspicious enough to think they’d known about the camp he’d attacked a few hours before.

Every so often, one of them would make a remark, like: ‘well, well, looks like Vaas is hiring pretty boys now. You better pucker up that asshole’, or something along the lines of ‘little boys shouldn't be playing with guns’. It made Jason stand on edge: he hadn’t be this annoyed by anyone in a really long time. He couldn’t believe how derogatory the privateers were of him. Was it all because he was dressed like a pirate?

Jason ignored the taunting calls and walked on over the path. This place was even worse than the name would have you think. The houses, which were all made of bamboo and other wood, sometimes had a giant hole in the roof, and the paths he walked on were just large roads of dirt and sand.

Scarcely dressed hookers were standing on the balconies of almost every house, calling and whistling at Jason, ‘begging’ him to come to them. Jason looked away every time he saw one, not wanting to be subjected to the awkwardness of rejecting a whore.

What would Buck be doing in a town like this? Jason wasn’t planning on entering one of the whore houses simply to find the asshole that took Riley. Maybe the bar. And even if he weren’t there, Jason would get a shot and wait.

He turned to the right, facing the bar which was named Spready Gold. He opened the door and stepped in, following the sound of the island music.

Sitting there, below the dim light of the lamp, sat a man. In his hand was a bottle of beer, his shirt hung open loosely over his shoulders, proudly showing a tattoo of a male deer. He eyed Jason with something he could only describe as a sick grin, and Jason walked up to him.

"Are you Buck?" he asked.

“Well, it’s not my birthday, so you must be Christmas.” the man said with his thick Australian accent.

Jason glared harder, huffing, “I’m here for my brother Riley.”

Buck tutted, shrugging, “Nah, sorry, doesn’t ring a bell.” He stood up, strutting over towards the bar to pick up another beer. 

“You bought him from Hoyt!” Jason called, balling his hand into a fist.

“Ah, him! That whiny poofter said his name was,” and there Buck put a hand in front of his mouth and mimicked screaming. He laughed, grabbing his belly.

“You’re hysterical.” Jason murmured through clenched teeth.

Back at the table, Buck put his beer down, still chuckling along the way. “All right, all right. Let’s get down to business, aye? You want your brother Riley back? I don’t think he’s had enough of me, to be frank.”

“Look, just give him back to me and nothing bad will happen to you.”

Buck grinned evilly, the laughter which had filled his eyes seconds ago was completely gone from his face, “Oh, oh… calm down now. We’re not all savages here. We’re just respectable businessmen. You see,” he placed his hands on the table, “I’ve got something you want, a nice product, and you’ve got something I want.” 

“And what the hell is that?” Jason remained standing, not lowering himself to Buck’s level.

“Oh…” Buck continued, eyes narrowing, “Watch that temper there, young man. If you do me in, you’ll never get him back.” 

Jason bit his tongue, keeping in any filthy words he wanted to throw at the man right now. Buck smiled at his compliance and took out a paper from his pocket. Inside it was a drawing of an ancient knife.

“That’s it? A knife?” Jason asked, picking up the paper.

“A knife?” Buck asked incredulously, snatching the paper back, “A knife? What do you mean a fucking knife? More history in this than you and Riley’s four arses squeezed together. This is my fucking fee, alright?”

Jason nodded slowly. “I’ll get it for you.”

“Right, you better. You find that knife for me and you get Riley back. Now fuck off before someone else nicks it.”

Jason grabbed the piece of paper off the table and stuffed it in his pocket. He turned around and walked towards the exit. There’s no fucking way he’ll get Buck anything. There had to be a simpler solution.


	9. Chapter 9

Jason rubbed his hands, frowning in concentration. He had to put all the things together to make up a plan. Okay, so Vaas had told him Buck lived here in Badtown. He’d said his house had a basement where his most priced possession were kept and Jason assumed Riley should be there. The privateers were slowly crawling off as well, their urges having been fulfilled by the women in the town, which meant there was no threat of anyone seeing and attacking him.

The rest was all unnecessary information: about the knife, and Buck’s Australian accent and everything more the fucker had said. Could it really be this easy? Knowing that Riley was almost certainly in Badtown, could he rescue him just like that? Buck hadn’t been expecting him, that was for sure, but if he did find out…

Jason stood up from the porch, having made his decision. He’d go through every house in Badtown if it meant finding Riley as soon as possible.

—

Daisy Lee was looking longingly at the water the natives had left for her. She had been doing so for hours, but her tied up hands prevented her from reaching out and taking the glass.  
The door opened and Daisy closed her eyes against the sun, slowly opening them again to see the silhouette of a broad, muscular-

“Grant!” she cried out, eyes wide in surprise. He looked so different… there were weapons in his holster and a rifle wrapped around his torso. His eyes were calm, but didn’t show the usual togetherness he used to have.

The older Brody walked up to Daisy, gently taking her chin and checking her wounds before sagging down to take off her bindings. 

“Grant, I was so scared… these people, they-” she wrapped her arms around the tall body, pushing her face into Grant’s neck. He didn’t hug back. Why wouldn’t he? “Are you alright?” the blonde asked, retreating and placing a hand on Grant’s cheek.

His lips were a thin line and Daisy had never seen her boyfriend’s eyes looking the way the did now. So uneasy and… angry.

“Grant..?” she asked again, but he looked away.

“Daisy… you have to stay here. It’s safer for you this way.” he handed over the glass of water without making eyecontact. When he leaned in he whispered, “I love you.”

Why did Grant have to whisper?

—

Jason had snuck through a total of 9 houses and had until now only found three couples fornicating, two men abusing their wives and four empty houses. He grit his teeth in frustration after slamming the latest door shut. There were only a few houses left, including the ones a little out of Badtown. He was close to it, so why not try those? He couldn’t imagine Riley being in there, but he had to find him. Whatever the cost.

He walked up to the first house, looking through one of the gaps between two bamboo poles. There was a book on the table and a couch in the corner: more furniture than in the other houses. Jason saw this as a good sign and was hit with renewed hope. He went to the door, without looking around first, and kicked it up. There was a door and Jason ran towards it, pushing his ear against the wood. 

“Riley!” he called in a voice he hoped was loud enough for his brother to hear him, but soft enough not to raise any suspicion. 

There were footsteps from below and Jason’s heart sprang up when he heard a soft “hello?”. 

Jason grabbed his gun, pointing it at the lock, “Stand clear from the door!” he waited a second, then shot twice, breaking the lock.

His hand reached forward as a blade was put to his throat, “I wouldn’t go in there if I were you, mate…” the dark voice come up from behind him. Jason growled, raising his gun. “And you can put that gun right on the ground, too.” 

The blade that was pressing into his throat pressed a little deeper and Jason could feel it close to his artery. He slowly kneeled to lay the gun down, standing back up while taking out his knife with utmost care, hoping Buck wouldn’t see it.

He readied his arm just as Buck was about to start one of his speeches again, hitting Buck with his elbow in the abdomen, making him stagger backwards. Jason ran as soon as the blade was gone from his neck, kicking the door open and running downwards. Standing there was Riley, the curious light of the pink and blue light bulbs making his skin illuminate oddly. 

“Riley, get back.” Jason called as he heard angry steps from behind him. He turned around to face Buck and was just quick enough to deflect his attack.

“You’re so eager to come here, weren’t ya, Jason?” Buck said, showing his teeth in a smug grin, “Just you wait and I’ll have fun with two of you Brody boys. Don’t worry, I’ll let you watch me and Riley too.”

The room suddenly felt dark around them and Jason could only focus on the sick bastard in front of him. He growled and tried to stab Buck with a swipe from above, but the man easily deflected it with his arm, trying to hit Jason from the right, but Jason was quick enough to duck.

He tried again, but Buck took his wrist, forcing the knife from his hand where it fell to the ground. Jason watched it falling, surprised by the arms grabbing him by the shoulders and throwing him to the ground, far away from his weapon.

“This is some fucked up foreplay, huh?” Buck chuckled, immediately jumping back to hit Jason after he stood up. Jason stepped to the left just in time, leaving Buck’s blade hanging in the air. For a second, time went slower, and he realised what to do.

He grabbed the knife while it was still in the savage’s hand, forcing it back into his chest, right where his heart was. The struggling hand quickly let go of its grip on the knife and Jason pushed Buck backwards so he fell on the ground. He stood over him and watched as the blood poured out.

It just wasn’t enough.

 Jason leaned over him, taking the knife out of Buck’s body with a sickening twist, stabbing him again in the torso, in the lungs where little puffs of air came out and eventually once more in his face. The knife stuck there in the skull and Jason left it. This was what Buck deserved.

The world rushed back to him with a sudden whisper, “J-Jason? Is he dead?” Riley asked, his lower lip trembling in fear.

Jason rushed up to him, holding his face and shushing him, “He is. What did he do to you? He didn’t touch you right?”

Riley snivelled, shaking his head, “He… did do some things where I touched him, but…” the younger boy let out a shaky breath, “He said he’d really take me after he got back. But then you came. If you hadn't come, Jason, I…” 

Jason hugged Riley tightly, pressing his nose in his brother’s hair. If there was anyone too good to have this happened to them, it would be Riley. Fuck, his anger for Buck only grew more and he almost wished he was still alive so he could torture him for ages and make him cry out in agony. The hatred went to Jason’s fingers, making him shudder in utter need for violence.

He shook the adrenaline rush off, loosening his grip on Riley a little, “It’s okay…” he whispered, “I’m gonna take you back to my camp. We have food and it’ll be safe okay?”

Riley nodded, biting his lip. Jason could see he was almost crying, but didn’t comment on it. They were going back as soon as possible. Leaving this dreadful place and its memories behind eternally. 

“Let’s go.”


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Explicit Sexual Content, my dear readers <3

Jason returned to the camp as quick as possible, driving hard over sandy roads and evading running deer here and there. Riley was seated beside him, ever so silent, watching the nature go by outside. 

Jason wondered what Buck had done to his kid brother. He knew he hadn’t… Damn, why was it so hard. He didn’t want to think about it, but he also didn’t want Riley to stay silent and hurt. He knew the youngest Brody brother had had lots of shit over him in High School already and he remembered the days when he came home and sat so silently.

“You… wanna, uh, talk about it?” Jason asked tensely. Usually, when he had been with Liza, she always helped Jason with these kind of things. Liza was incredibly supportive and thoughtful. She really knew how to talk with people.

Riley looked up at Jason, smiling slightly in appreciation. Jason smiled back softly. 

“It’s okay.” Riley began, shrugging a bit, “I don’t know what to say about it. I’m… I’m just glad you’re here. God, I didn’t even ask about the others yet.” he looked sorry, looking back down, “How are they?”

Jason shrugged at the question, “I’m not sure. I’ve only heard about you, yet. But Grant is probably somewhere on the Northern Island. I think, at least. Maybe Vaas knows more.”

They drove further in silence and Riley frowned more and more when they entered their camp. “Erm, Jason… these are the people that wanted to sell me, you know…” he whispered, looking around a little frightened.

“Yeah, I’d expected that. But I belong with them now, their leader is a good friend of mine. You’re safe, really.”

They stepped out of the car and Jason was greeted by some of the pirates who held their hands up in greeting. He nodded back at them. 

“Where’s Vaas?” Jason asked Esteban, one of the pirates he was befriended with.

“In the upper building,” the man replied, meaning Vaas and Jason’s sleeping place, “He said he didn’t wanna be disturbed, though. Not sure if he’ll rip off your head, but he said he’d rip off ours if we entered.”  
 Jason snorted, shaking his head, “I’ll be careful. Thanks, Esteban.”

The two Brody brothers walked further and Jason noticed Riley huddled closer and closer to him whenever one of the pirates passed. He didn’t seem to scared, though. More curious.

Jason walked the stairs in front of the building and knocked on the door, “Vaas?” he asked, hearing only a low growl which sounded terribly like he was… gagged? “Vaas, I’m coming in right now!”

He threw upon the door and barged in, gun at the ready. In the corner of the room Vaas was sitting, scowl on his face. On his upper arm there was a rope tightly wrapped around it, and in his mouth there was a syringe. He was still busy tying up the rope.

“The fuck are you doing?” Jason snarled, marching with big steps towards the man.

“The fuck does it look like, huh?” Vaas spit back, taking the syringe from his mouth.

“Fucking looks like you’re being an idiot and about to inject heroin.” 

“Felicitaciones, you are right.” he positioned the needle and Jason rushed towards it. He snatched the needle from Vaas’s hand and threw it against the wall.

“You’re not going to do heroin. Sure, do it how much you want when you think I’m not there and I can’t see you, but don’t you dare do it in front of-”

“Me?” Riley asked stepping inside and wearing a silly grin, “It’s quite cosy here, isn’t it?” he gestured towards the colourful drawings on the wall.

Vaas huffed, tugging the rope off and standing up, feeling in his pockets and rummaging through his closet. “So that’s your teeny brother Riley?” he mumbled, putting a joint between his lips and lighting it provocatively, “Looks like a right shit, just like you Jason. Must be a family trait.” he inhaled and blew out the smoke, sighing in glee.

“Right.” Riley muttered, looking with raised eyebrows at his bigger brother, “So…”

“Ignore him. I’m gonna make sure you get to sleep in a building close to this one. Some help, Vaas?”

Vaas plopped down on the bed, “Ask Carlos. Carlos has a free spot, plus he’ll be protected, huh?”

Jason nodded, smiling, “That’s great. Come, Riley, I’ll introduce you to Carlos. He’s a good guy.”

—

Jason had made sure to tell Carlos about how important Riley's life was to him and Carlos had sworn to protect him with his life. They didn’t have separate rooms, which made Riley a little queazy, but Jason told him Carlos wouldn’t do anything to him. 

The next few minutes, Jason sat nearby while Riley and Carlos started talking. It seemed like the two silent souls really understood each other’s fears and pains. Jason pretended not to listen in, instead poking sticks into the fire while Carlos and Riley were sitting on the log beside him.

“I once knew Buck. He was a soldier in the Australian army, but was refused because he was too violent. He came to Hoyt then, and I was still a privateer. I used to be his right-hand, but Vaas… it’s a long story. All those years ago, when those two met, they were deemed to becoming enemies. Both of them wanted to become Hoyt’s pet at that time. I still remember Buck’s face. And everything he did. Everything he forced me and others to do. You are… brave, brother of Jason. You are a survivor.”

“That makes two of us.” Riley replied, as lovingly as always, smiling up at the much larger man next to him. Jason swore he could see a small smile spreading on Carlos’s face, but it was soon hidden again when he looked down. 

—

Jason opened the door to the upper building after it had gotten dark outside. Inside, it felt warm and his eyes fell immediately on Vaas’s body slumped down on his mattress in the corner.

Jason walked up to him and sat down close, leaning against the wall. 

“I thought you wouldn’t come back, amigo.” Vaas grumbled, lighting another joint after having thrown the butt of the last one to the ground. Jason noticed about ten used joints lying on the ground.

“Of course I came back,” Jason murmured, running a hand through his half shaven hair and feeling the soft hairs tickling his hand, “What’d I do without the help of my pirate, right?”

Vaas snorted, the cigarette hanging between his lips and his eyes looking amused. Jason noticed he looked good when he was happy. Not when he was crazy-happy, but when he was silently happy the way he was now.

He smiled and glanced over Vaas’s face, eyes falling over his sharp nose and his lips, the cigarette dangling dangerously between them. 

Vaas took a last drag and threw the cig away, leaning close to Jason suddenly, “You’re staring, Jason.”, he said close to his ear and Jason’s breath caught. He was just able to see the smirking lips close, so close to him.

He felt courage and excitement flowing through him and placed his hand on Vaas’s waist, pulling him a little closer. It made the pirate leader let out a small puff of air against his neck which made Jason shudder in return.

Vaas’s hands slid over Jason’s shoulders and down his arms, gently pushing him down on the mattress below him, but keeping his face buried in his neck. Once down, Vaas licked a stripe up Jason’s neck, taking the skin into his mouth and nibbling on it in such a pleasuring way.

Jason gasped a little, feeling his face reddening at the touch. He’d never done something like this with a man before. Enough times with Liza, but he was never on the bottom like this. He ran his hands over Vaas’s arms, finally allowing himself to enjoy the beautiful curve of the muscles. Fuck, he was so strong. Jason was sure he could’ve easily pinned him down if he wanted to. 

Vaas ran his hand over Jason’s torso with a low growl, running his hand up to Jason’s neck and back down again. He trailed kisses over the American’s neck and Jason threw his head back eagerly, making more place for the little kisses and bites.

Vaas chuckled softly, the sound vibrating against Jason’s throat, “California boy’s got a hard-on for jungle fever.” He ended his sentence with a bite to Jason’s shoulder and Jason let out a strangled moan.

“Fuck-” he whimpered, arching his back up more, needing more, more, more contact.

The pirate leader got the message and rolled his hips against Jason’s, grinding their bodies together, “Fuck, Jason, you’ve really got a hard-on, huh? So quickly, carajo…”

Jason huffed in response, “You’re no better,” he growled, reaching between their bodies and feeling up Vaas’s crotch. There was _quite_ a bulge there. Vaas, dazed by the physical contact, thrust his hips back down in Jason’s hand again. Jason smirked, getting responses from him felt so good.

He rubbed his hand against the fabric more, biting his lip before switching back quickly to his own neglected cock. Vaas hissed in response, tugging at Jason’s pants. They grabbed and pulled until both of them were in naked from below the waist. Vaas ducked down immediately to kiss Jason. Their lips melted together quickly, moving in unison until the pirate leader started licking softly on Jason’s lips. Jason didn’t even think when he opened his mouth, it all went so natural and fluently.

Their tongues slid together and Vaas took both of their cocks in his hand, rubbing their heads together. Jason broke the kiss to look down and saw their pre-come mixing between them, saw how Vaas slid his hand over it and stimulated both of them simultaneously. 

A surge of pleasure shot through him and he let out a moan, grabbing Vaas’s face to pull him down for another passionate kiss.

This time, Vaas was the one who broke away for a breath and tugged at their cocks suddenly, eliciting a groan from both men at the same time. 

“Quicker, Vaas… fuck, just…” Jason thrust his hips up into Vaas’s hand, pulling him closer and closer.

“Carajo, amante… carajo, cabron-” Vaas continued hissing Spanish swearing words into Jason’s ear as Jason kept panting. He was so close and when Vaas stroked his head in a particularly good way, he was coming with moans and Vaas’s name on his lips. This seemed to have an effect on the pirate too and he came immediately after, panting into Jason’s ear and stroking them gently through the orgasm before it became too sensitive.

 

Vaas let himself fall down on the bed next to Jason, his leg wrapped sloppily around his. Jason smiled to himself, running a hand through his sweaty hair. 

“That was good, wasn’t it?” Jason smirked at Vaas who had his eyes closed and was smiling.

“Eso fue jodidamente bueno,” Vaas looked Jason in the eyes and smiled.

Jason chuckled, “Yeah, I don’t really speak Spanish that well, but you said it was good?”

Vaas wrapped his arm around Jason’s torso, “It was fucking good, Jason…”


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Citra and Hoyt appear, ooohhh~  
> Hope you enjoy! <3

Jason woke up with a start, wondering where he was and what he was doing. He felt a warm body behind him with arms wrapped tightly around his chest. And then he remembered: the night with Vaas and the terribly clumsy, but terribly nice sex they’d had.

Jason shuffled a bit, making Vaas growl in his sleep and pull him even closer. Damn, Vaas really was possessive. Jason smirked, relaxing against the body. It had been long since he’d woken up to someone else in this way. The last few days in his relationship with Liza were spent as far away from each other as possible. Meaning also either of them had to sleep on the couch some days.

Jason trailed his finger over Vaas’ knuckles thoughtlessly and the other man twisted a bit in his sleep before pressing his lips against Jason’s back, making his eyes open in surprise. 

“Arriba, Jason, and a good morning.” the pirate grumbled into his ear, holding him close in arms that really wouldn’t budge.

“Morning.” he greeted back awkwardly. He wasn’t sure how to act or if Vaas was planning on having more nights like this. Jason rolled around, after wiggling for a long time, to face Vaas. He looked at the man’s sleepy dark eyes and his curved lips. 

“You’re so shy, Jason…” Vaas teased, grinning and running a hand through his hair. Jason huffed, rolling his eyes.

“Just the ever-awkward ‘was-I-a-one-night-stand-or-more’-thoughts.” he said, reaching up to play with Vaas’ necklaces.

“Tsk, you’re so fucking crazy. And stupid, for that matter, amante.” the pirate looked at Jason as if he was one of the best things in the world and it made Jason grin. It felt good having this effect on him, but was it only for that reason he wanted to be involved with Vaas or was it… something more? 

“Alright, then: I’m gonna vote for us doing this again occasionally.”

Vaas looked smug, “I knew you couldn’t resist my charms.”

“Oh, shut up.”

—

Citra Talugmai pursed her lips, looking thoughtfully at the warrior in front of her. He was drugged with one of her special drinks and covered with tattoos from shoulder to his wrist. It meant Grant really had showed some skills to her tribe.  
Citra had made him undress and was sat on Grant’s hips, running her hands over his chest and feeling the strong muscle. 

“You are perfect, Grant,” she whispered into his ear, knowing it made a very strong effect on him in the little dreamworld he was in right now, “You are my warrior. And you belong here, with me, with our people. You are our warrior. And you cannot leave us now. We need you, Grant Brody.”

—

The sound of a phone ringing disturbed Vaas and Jason’s tranquil moment and made the pirate moan dreadfully.

“Puto teléfono,” he hissed, reaching over Jason’s body to grab his pants and fish the cell phone out, “¿Qué pasa?”

Jason looked at Vaas’ face going from angry to a little frightened and restrained, “Yes, boss…” he said, “I know, I can’t do anything about it. Yes. I said I know!” 

A yell from the other side of the line.

“Okay, okay… I will do what I can.” and he hung up, a frown written across his face.

“‘Sup?” Jason asked softly, running a hand over Vaas’ arm, getting his attention immediately.

“It’s Hoyt. He’s fucking angry because Buck’s dead and another one of the prisoners has been captured by the Rakyat. He doesn’t give a fuck about Riley, though, because Buck already paid.”

Jason nodded quickly, “So, who’s escaped? Or captured, whatever…”

“Two girls. First one named Daisy and after that some kid named Liza.”

“Those are my friends. Do you know where they are?”

“I don’t fucking know. Hoyt also says his privateer camps are getting attacked an awful lot. Maybe your brother. Fuck, this is some sick sibling rivalry going on.”

Jason raised his eyebrows, “What are you talking about?”

“Citra and your brother. Citra is my sister. You belong to me. Grant belongs to Citra, they must be working together. It’s like a fucking sibling show-down…”

—

“What’s going on? Grant! Help me!” Liza called, looking at Grant helplessly. Her boyfriend’s brother was clad in a light blue shirt, guns wrapped around his belt and a weird-looking knife in his hand. She was dragged inside a temple, looking at a huge tree in the middle where Grant and another native-looking woman stood.

She had been locked up in a cage by armed men for days. They had asked her questions she didn’t understand and they’d hit her whenever she said she didn’t know. One day a man in a suit had shown her a picture of Grant and asked her whether she knew who he was.

Liza had said no and was rewarded with a shot in the leg that hadn’t gotten out yet. And then one day she woke up by the sounds of gunfire and saw Grant shooting among them, leading the team of armed natives he had with him.

“Grant, this isn’t funny, I’m hurt. What’s happening?” she tried again, looking desperate. But Grant only looked up once, looking sorry, before continuing to talk with the woman next to him. The woman was awfully physical with Grant, stroking his muscly arms and standing in his personal bubble more often than not. 

The men holding her asked something in their native languages, which sounded like Indonesian, and they took her somewhere else when an answer was called. Inside the temple, it was moist and Liza was put into one of the rooms, locking the door behind her when she fell down.

Everything hurt and her life was a mess. How could she get out of here again? Everything was going so crazy, this jungle and the pirates and all the fucking guns.

Liza pressed her face into her hands and sobbed, she went from one cage to another and nothing changed. If only she’d insisted on not going skydiving. She could’ve been in Hollywood right now, planning her film career and becoming famous. She could’ve had the role right now and she could’ve told mom and dad of her achievements. But no, Jason had insisted on going skydiving, pushing her thoughts on the matter aside completely.

—

Hoyt Volker strutted along the many cages he had in possession, bathing in the sounds of moans and cries and begs. It was so relaxing to hear how much he had achieved, how strong he really was.

He stopped in front of one of the cages which held a very broken-looking American boy with black hair. 

“You.” Hoyt said softly, smiling, “You will be my new pet.”


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for leaving all the kudos and comments, I love you all so much!
> 
> Anyway, sorry for the slightly smaller chapter today, but I promise to make it up to you the following chapter!  
> I hope you enjoy reading~

Hoyt sat in his bedroom, filing through his papers and reading his book. Occasionally, he spared a quick glance over at his newest pet, who stood in the middle of the room, not daring to move. His hands were tied very tightly behind his back and his eyes were covered by a blindfold. His name was Keith Ramsay and wasn’t he a looker. How he stood there with his half opened shirt and bare feet pressed against the fur of his Italian carpet.

Hoyt whistled softly to himself, The Ride of the Valkyries, one of his favourite classical pieces. Keith, scared by the sudden noise, twitched his head up and ‘looked’ around. Hoyt smirked and stepped out of his chair, walking over to his gramophone and putting one of his vinyls on it. It was time to educate Keith a little bit. 

“I’ll teach you something about classical music, Keith,” Hoyt said, turning up the volume and waiting for the music to start, “In America you know so little about it. It’s all far too bombastic, nothing ever so subtle as it should.” 

In The Hall of the Mountain King started playing, the orchestral version, and Hoyt hummed with it immediately. Keith stood silently, lips parted.

“Do you hear this? Harpsichord and violin mixed so fluently. Ta ta ta ta…” he swung his hands around in the air, chuckling. The music got a bit quicker and Hoyt stepped forward to Keith, smirk still plastered on his face.

“Isn’t it dramatic? Almost anxious. What will happen in the hall of the mountain king? Who will survive?” Hoyt tapped his fingers on Keith’s shoulders in the rhythm of the music, “Ta ta ta, ta ta!|

He laughed again, holding Keith’s shoulders. “Keith, say something, you’re almost like that guy of which I cut the vocal chords out. It’s quite boring, wouldn’t recommend it in the slightest.” He noticed how tense Keith got and rolled his eyes. 

The music got to the most dramatic part and Keith started to make soft sounds sounding like sobs and Hoyt grit his teeth, eyes darkening. “Let’s stop those sounds, Keith, it’s not making me feel very happy and I do think you’d rather want me happy than angry at you, right?”

Keith nodded, but only after an urging poke from Hoyt. 

“Very good. You can even enjoy this, you’ll be loaded with affection from me, that should make you feel very grateful. I’m one of the richest men in the world after all. I can give you anything you want if only you give a little bit in return. Will you accept that, Keith? Hm?”

Keith nodded again, his shoulders trembling. Hoyt was really starting to get quite impatient…

—

Jason stood in front of the pirates next to Vaas, talking about their plans. He spoke mostly to himself, but the pirates were kind enough to pretend they were listening in and being a help. 

“The thing is, we have to find Oliver and Keith. Liza and Daisy are at the Rakyat’s right now and involving himself with them wouldn’t be very smart.” Jason started, trying to think out a plan while Vaas kept spinning on the chair he’d told the other men to bring here on the stage. 

“I think,” the pirate leader started, “Those pieces of shit are either being kept by Hoyt or they are being sold. Which would mean they’re either going aboard a plane or are waiting to be picked up at the airport.” he pretended his hand was a plane and made it fly up with a whistling sound.

Jason sighed, thinking hard. Hoyt was stronger, but with his organisation destroyed about half, he might have more of a chance to save Oliver and Keith. 

“Maybe you can go to him, Vaas. He trusts you, right? You could get some infor-” 

Vaas’ phone rung, as if on cue, and he stopped spinning, looking with wide eyes. He answered it carefully, putting it to his ear. Jason rushed towards him to listen in and, surprisingly, Vaas allowed him to. Maybe having had sex with Vaas had more advantages than just having a lover…

“Hello, boss.” Vaas said calmly, smiling.

“Good day, Vaas, You sound awfully cheery.” the voice from the other line came.

“Sì, sì, it’s a good day. What about you.” Vaas smirked, as if two psychopaths having a jolly conversation about their days was the most common thing in the world.

“Hmm, I’d like to show you just how my day is. Could you come here?” the other man’s voice sounded almost happy and Jason frowned. Anything that could make Hoyt become happy was usually a bad thing to everyone else on planet earth.

“Of course. I will be there.”

—

Citra kissed Grant’s hand, smiling at her brightest warrior. “You are such a hero, Grant. It is very important to give all you have for your cause, you know that, right?” 

Grant nodded, but still looked hesitant, “I know, but these people have helped me a lot. One of them is my girlfr- I mean, was my girlfriend.”

To that, Citra smiled as if she felt like the most honoured person because Grant gave up his former little pet just for her. “They belong in the past. You cannot fully help us until you have done what must be done. You know so, Grant.”

“I know, and I won’t allow myself to forget that in the moment of truth. I promise you so, Citra. I love you.”

Citra’s smile grew even wider and she cocked her head, “Thank you, Grant.”

—

Jason looked at Vaas, waiting for him to speak up and tell him what the hell was that about. Riley had evaded his eyes from the stage and was seated between all of the other pirates, looking utterly out of place. Carlos stood behind him, he didn’t seem to let the boy out of his sight for only a second.

“I’m going to Hoyt.” Vaas said, smirking still.

“Why are you grinning like that, Vaas, just fucking tell me.” Jason hissed. He was starting to get annoyed at the pirate for not knowing what the hell was going on and if he was ever going to see his friends again. It wasn’t like it was a minor problem or anything, it was actually pretty major.

“Shh, calm down, amante, I have a plan. While I sit with Hoyt, he will have called for utmost fucking security so he wouldn’t get shot by any motherfucker randomly. He doesn’t even trust me like that, you know, can you believe that? Anyway, if you’re as sneaky as you think you are, you can try and find your friends. At the end of the whole thing, I’ll know where they are and I’ll sent a text. Then you can go sneaking around like a little bitch and rescue your friends or whatever.”

Jason started smiling too, nodding along with his plan. “Shit, you’re the sneaky one here.” he suddenly felt like kissing the man on his widely grinning lips, but decided against it. He didn’t know what the other pirates would think of it…

Instead, Jason placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed, “Thanks. For helping.”

“Yeah, you better be thankful, Jason. The shit you’re getting me in is fucking crazy…”


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> New characters appear and the plans are starting to be made!

Jason stayed with Riley while Vaas drove away for the Southern Island. He was planning on teaching his kid brother some things so he’d be save when Jason had to leave and find Keith and Oliver.

Riley looked hesitantly at the gun in his hands, frowning. “Jason… I’m not sure about this.”

Jason stood behind him, taking his arm and helping him aim at a tree. “It’s okay, you just have to keep steady.”

“That’s not what I meant,” Riley answered, shaking his head, “I mean… what’s going on here. How you’ve changed. I don’t know if anyone here has morals anymore, you know. It’s like everything’s gone.”

Jason nodded. He understood what Riley meant. Being in the jungle was weird. You had to adapt completely and there was no way you could change back. It was like the entire world had changed and any political system was thrown out of the window and replaced with the rule ‘survival of the fittest’. At first, it’d made him scared: looking death in the eye, so he’d made other people see death instead. It was a powerful feeling if you were able to walk with death on your side, but also a huge responsibility.

“I know, but we have to adapt in order to survive here. I was lucky enough to get the pirates’ help, but Grant is out there somewhere. God knows what the hell he has to do to survive.” 

And wasn’t it odd to praise yourself lucky that you were somehow ‘saved’ by the pirates who helped Hoyt selling slaves.

Riley shot his gun, the bullet hitting the lower side of the tree and Jason told him how to hold it more effectively. “But you’re doing well for a beginner.”

His brother ignored him, continuing his thoughts. It really seemed like this whole thing had made him think a lot. Jason hadn’t had time to think. It was a constant rush of getting food, sleeping, saving his brother, killing, and so on.

“I wasn’t even scared with Buck, you know. It was like instinct took over. I even hit him once and he hit me back much harder. I couldn’t feel a thing. After a while, even when he touched me, I thought of other places. I thought so hard about escaping and about you and Grant. I never once broke down, Jason.”

Jason was hit with emotion: his little brother was so strong. Maybe it was a Brody trait that they could all adapt so well in utter chaos. It was what mom had always told them to: stay strong, don’t back down, fight for yourself. 

He turned Riley around and hugged him close to his body, “You’re so strong, Riley. You know, I’m so fucking proud of you.”

Riley smiled, hugging his brother back, “It’s a pretty good feeling to survive…”

And, yeah, it really was.

—

Vaas walked into Hoyt’s building, standing tall and ignoring the stares and glances from the privateers. They were all smart enough not to say a word to him, though, but Vaas knew his pirates were always harassed by these men.

Now the hardest part for him was: stay cool. Calm, collected. The three words he didn’t quite understand the definition of. Vaas was impulsive with what he said, usually his anger roiled out of him and made him kill everyone that stood in his way. Hoyt knew this and he’d helped him at first by giving him the job. Killing people here and there, all easy as fuck, but then he became the boss of the pirates and it was tougher. Hoyt really liked riling Vaas up so he had to contain his anger in front of him. It was so hard and his brain hurt every time he came back from the motherfucker.

 

“Vaas, my boy! How nice to see you.” Hoyt called, his accent even worse than usual. It usually meant he was excited about something, which couldn’t be good.

“Hoyt.” Vaas answered evenly, stepping inside and looking around. The room was awfully quiet. Hoyt had invited him to come to his personal room, his private little palace. 

Hoyt sat on the brown leather chair behind his desk, legs spread widely. He didn’t say anything, his eyes looking cold and calculating. “Keith, you can stand up now.” 

Keith, sitting underneath the desk for a purpose Vaas would rather not think of, stood up and banged his head against the desk, making Hoyt hiss impatiently. “Fuck off, Keith, don’t make me tell you twice.”

Vaas would’ve burst into laughter if it was simply another one of Hoyt’s pets, a faceless obsession that would be build up and given hope and then broken yet again. He knew the progress and even he didn’t act that way. He much more liked seeing faceless people die than giving them so much of his time. 

Keith scurried away, his blindfold was gone and he looked at Vaas with pleading eyes. The pirate forced himself to grin, did the guy really believe he’d help him? Well, now that he thought about it, it was true in some way…

Hoyt smiled, holding up his hands, “So… What do you think of him? He doesn’t speak much, but I’m sure I can teach him some English soon enough. How’s your little pet doing?”

Vaas thought for a moment before realising what he was talking about, “My pet, huh? Doing very well. Top class sniper already and my right hand along with Carlos.”

Hoyt looked impressed, “Amazing, tell me,” he started preparing a cigar, “How did you treat Jason Brody in order to make him obey you completely? I thought he had a fire in him, like his other brother.”

Keith’s eyes darted upwards and both of the psychopaths in the room noticed immediately, but ignored it.

“Lies, mainly, promises of getting his friends back, lo antes posible. He believes it.” he wasn’t quite sure whether he was lying anymore. He knew he had promised Jason to see his friends in order to make Brody trust him more, but it wasn’t a lie, right? Here he was helping him out.

“Ah, using the only things he cares about, that’s quite handy. You hear that, Keith? Isn’t Vaas savage?” Hoyt grinned widely at the American boy.

Keith’s lips trembled, he was clearly confused as to what he was supposed to say, “W-Whatever you think.”

Hoyt rolled his eyes, putting the cigar in his mouth and inhaling, the smoke came out again as he talked, “No opinion, that’s quite frustrating. Whatever I think. I think Vaas is very unkind to his darlings. I handle Keith with much care, don’t I?”

Keith nodded quickly. Vaas wasn’t sure which game they were playing at or why he was here. Was he there to intimidate the boy?

“Anyway, back down to business. I want you to kill Grant Brody. Or, even better: I want you to make Jason kill Grant Brody. That’s it. That’s all I ask. It’s just for my entertainment, you see, I’ll trust that Jason entirely from then on. I still have my doubts about him, seeing as he’s from America and all. Some of them feel so patriotic.”

Vaas narrowed his eyes, smiling hesitantly, “You know he’s with my sister, right? That white boy’s been inked up.”

“I don’t give a bloody _fuck_ about your family, Vaas! I want Grant Brody dead on a platter, so you better make sure that happens.” 

The pirate exhaled through his nose, calming himself. He really needed some weed right now. “Okay, Hoyt. Anything you want.”

“Fantastic. It was nice to see you, Vaas.”

Vaas was about to turn around, before he stopped, much to Hoyt’s disapproval. “One more thing, boss.”

“Quick then.”

“That last American guy I captured. The parents have sent over a million, so what’s happened to him now?”

Hoyt sighed impatiently, “The same as what happens with all the others. They’ve been sold. He’s got a plane to catch in a few days I think, he’s going on a trip to Yemen.”

“Good. Thanks, boss.”

—

Jason had started reloading his weapons, expecting a call from Vaas anytime now. Riley had opened up to him so much. He couldn’t remember a day in his life when he felt so close to his kid brother. Riley had usually been the young brother Jason was sometimes ashamed of, he didn’t even know why. Maybe because he was a few years younger and he recognised his younger self in him very much. The naivety and his kindness, but Jason expected those were traits Riley was going to keep forever.

Jason looked up into the sky, seeing it darkening and turning into a grey void. It looked much more threatening than any rainstorm in America, because the sky was almost black and the sounds of rumbling thunder were echoed through the mountains twice as hard. 

His phone started buzzing and he picked it up immediately, “Yes?”

“Hello, amante. It’s me.”

Jason smirked slightly, “I know. Tell me about what you’ve heard.”

The pirate on the other end of the line sighed, his voice sounding a bit muffled, “It’s not that fucking good, you know. Hoyt is keeping Keith in his bedroom for his entertainment. I would’ve have any idea how to get him out of there, Hoyt keeps his possessions close to him. Wait too long, though, and Keith will be fucked up big time. The other one, Oliver, he’s being sold and is at the airport. The plane will take him to a sheikh in Yemen.”

Jason rubbed his forehead, “What the fuck… What can I do? I mean, we can save Oliver easily, right?”

“The airport is heavily secured, either you shoot the whole lot or get in without alarming anyone. But, uh, that’s not all, amante. Hoyt wants Grant dead. I think he finds him too much of a threat. But he wants you to kill him. With evidence and shit it was your doing so he will trust.”

Jason’s head spin round, “What if… Shit, I don’t know. We can make Grant believe I’m one of the pirates and all… And then I’ll-”  
 “Shh, amigo, shh. Write it down or something. I’m coming to you right now and you can tell me in person, bueno?”

“Alright, just come quickly.”

—

Oliver Carswell had been chill enough to enjoy the ride on the boat, towards some base, but when they started telling him he was being sold, he was starting to panic. What the hell was happening.

“No, you can’t do this right?” he begged as he got dragged on land towards a place with big helicopters and planes, “My dad’s paid, you know? That’s unfair, he payed you a shit ton of money, holy shit.” Oliver started struggling, and one of the pirates hit him hard across the head with his rifle, making him see stars.

He didn’t wanna go on a plane, he couldn’t get sold. What kind of slaves existed in modern day world? Oliver knew he wasn’t build well enough for labour work, so that only meant one other thing, right? He knew some kid slaves had were sold as property for child-marriage and pornography, but he didn’t think his buyer would’ve been him simply to marry him. 

“You can’t do this…” Oliver’s voice sounded broken and he shook his head wildly, “I’m not property!”

The armed men walked him into one of the big stone buildings. It was cold inside and all around him were animals and other people. Some looked like they were natives to the island and others seemed like they were simply tourists who had come thinking of a vacation, just like Oliver and his friends.

The men pushed him into an empty cage and he kept shaking his head, not believing what was going on. 

“Help me, someone… please.”

 

—

Vaas arrived back at the camp quickly, like he’d promised. Jason was already standing on top of the stage, yelling things and making Vaas’ pirates yell with him. 

“The fuck is going on?” he asked the first person he saw, which was Jason’s teensy brother.

Riley smiled up at him like Vaas wasn’t dangerous at all, “Jason says he’s made up a plan! He’s readying the soldiers right now.”

“My fucking pirates?” the leader asked angrily

“Carlos allowed him.” Riley answered with a smug grin.

—

Willis Huntley ended the phone call to his CIA boss in his most patriotic way: “And in the name of the glorious revolution, we will get our American friends out of here and we will make sure to catch Hoyt Volker, the dirty tyrant. Isn’t that right, Sam?”

“Ja, very right, Willis. Very right.”


	14. Chapter 14

Jason held up his gun, smiling and yelling his motivations. All the pirates in front of the stage cheered and grinned, started to pack up their guns and reloading their weapons. Only then did the American notice Vaas was back and that he was looking utterly unamused. 

Jason jumped off the stage, landing perfectly on his feet, and walked up to his ‘amante’. “Hello there, Vaas.”

The pirate crossed his arms, raising his eyebrows. “You think you can pretend to be my new right-hand, huh? Just because you fucked me once doesn’t mean you can take charge of my shit every once in while.”

Jason pressed a kiss to Vaas’ pouting lips to shut him up, loving the feeling of the other man’s body relaxing because of his touch, “And what if I fucked you twice?” he asked, smiling widely.

“Oh, you think you can manipulate me like that, you motherfucker?” Vaas retorted, but his face was already wearing a smile again, his eyes a bit tired. Jason had found out Vaas could become genuinely angry and upset and had realised quick enough that a happy Vaas was the best the deal with.

“I’m trying.” Jason placed his hands on Vaas’ shoulders, looking at his muscle underneath his fingertips, “But we have a tight schedule. I need to tell you the plan. Walk with me.” he turned around, gaining a very disappointed groan from the pirate, and started walking towards the weapon crates. 

“Don’t leave me hanging, pendejo!” but Vaas followed him anyway.

“My plan has to be done in three days to go correctly. First day starts now, and my plan is to save Liza and Daisy first, meaning we have to go to the Rakyat. I will pretend to belong to the pirates and that I will kill Riley if he doesn’t hand Liza and Daisy over. Grant has a lot of brotherly feelings towards Riley, you see.” Jason attached two grenades to his belt and continued, “Then I have to kill Grant, or well… pretend I kill Grant.”

Vaas interrupted his speech by laughing grabbing his stomach through his singlet, “You think you can fool Hoyt by pretending to have killed Grant? That’s the biggest bullshit I’ve ever heard. He knows all about this fucking island. It could be one of these motherfuckers here is secretly working for Hoyt and we’ll be fucking busted already.”

Jason nibbled on his lower lip, frowning in thought. He looked up into the dark clouds and sighed, “Fuck, I don’t know. I’ll see what happens. Let’s just follow the plan now. Day two: your pirates clear the areas around the airport. Then we save Oliver. We kill any privateer. On day three we improvise. See whatever happens and save Keith.”

Vaas was still shaking his head, “Fuck, you’re crazy. I mean, killing those privateers and Rakyat with my men is okay, but saving Keith from Hoyt? Fucking impossible, it’s just crazy.” 

“We have to do it. You said yourself that if we leave Keith for too long, he’d have gone nuts in there.” 

“Yeah. And he’ll be discarded. Getting him back from Hoyt after he’s been broken is easy, I can get any of his broken pets, but you don’t want that. Fuck, sometimes he even cuts off limbs and shit, you don’t want that, amante.”

Jason had hardly ever thought about the weirdness of the situation. All he’d thought about was survival, but now it came to him. Keith, one of his best friends and a successful banker, was locked up with some high-ranking psychopath who would play with him until there was nothing left. Until his mind was broken. How would Keith even act in a situation like that? Why Keith? Keith was good at fighting, he knew how to blow a fist in someone’s face. Keith had a way with words and flattery. He was smart and creative in his own way. 

_Maybe_ , Jason thought, _maybe he’s doing okay._

—

Hoyt dug his fingers into Keith’s windpipe, hearing the soft and gentle sound of his pet’s rhythmic whining and gasping. Then he let go again, stroking the skin gently and placing a kiss on the bruises. 

“That’s what happens when you try to escape, Keith. I can’t believe you would even try.” Hoyt’s hands travelled down over Keith’s arms, looking at the cuts and bruises which lay there, “I will kill the men who did this to you. I don’t think they knew how important you are.” 

Hoyt turned around, leaving the boy sitting trembly on his bed. He took out a first-aid kit and kneeled in front of Keith again, holding his arm. He didn’t even put up a fight anymore.

Hoyt carefully cleaned to small cut wound, marvelling at the little drips of blood that spilled out. As a child he’d wondered if everyone’s blood tasted the same. It was a good childhood memory, that day in a bright summer back in Southern-African, cutting up his beloved slaves and tasting their life fuel. He got sick, though, and thinking back to it now he realised how utterly dumb he’d been.

“There you go. All cleaned up.” Hoyt said as he finished wrapping the bandage around his arm. He smiled up at Keith warmly, to which the other man merely shuddered and looked away. “Aren’t you thankful? I had to postpone quite some business meetings in order to take care of you again.”

Keith shook his head quietly and Hoyt frowned, eyes darkening. Until he heard that soft voice.

“T-Thanks.”

—

Grant looked at the crosses in the inner temple. Two of the six were already occupied and it wouldn’t be long before the ritual began. Citra and he had decided to take care of Liza and Daisy before the others. It would be hard to track Riley and Jason now that they’d both suddenly fallen off the map. Grant knew Oliver was being sold, so it wasn’t important to find him anymore. He’d be gone soon enough. 

Citra wrapped her arms around Grant’s body from behind, humming into his shoulder. She was so tender and smart. Grant hadn’t even realised how selfish Daisy had been before Citra had told her. He hadn’t ever known, but when Citra said it, it all dawned upon him. All the midnight fights and rants, all the manipulated love she’d put in him. At least Citra would never do that. She was the truth. The only truth along with the Rakyat.

Slowly his two former friends started to wake up, first Daisy whose eyes blinked open and shut. She looked like such a liar now, a complete waste of time and space. If she disapproved of how he was now, it’d only confirm the theory: Daisy had never wanted him as a person, just the great soldier that could bring her wealth and kids and a good house. 

“Grant..?” Daisy’s voice came, soft and shaky, “Please just tell me what’s going on. I promise… I promise we can make it better. It always gets better, remember?”  
 Citra tutted behind him, sliding her hands over Grant’s arms, “You are nothing more than a traitor to Grant.”

Daisy seemed to hiss in response, not taking the comment of Citra very well, “Shut up, bitch! Let Grant say it himself if it’s true. Grant, you wouldn’t. I know you wouldn’t. I know somewhere you’re still the Grant I love. Please… just,” she held back a sob and lowered her head. At that moment Liza started waking up to, immediately becoming fierce again and tugging at her ropes.

Grant didn’t know what to think. On one hand, Daisy was pretending to love him, but she still disagreed with him being is true self. He looked at Citra who nodded solemnly. 

“I need to do this, Daisy. They need me.” Grant said, holding out the ancient knife and holding up his arms. 

Citra saw the signal and called in here native language ‘let the ritual begin’: “Biarkan upacara dimulai!”

—

Jason, Vaas and the pirates drove toward the temple. They had three cars in total, loaded with men and guns. Jason had ordered Carlos and Riley to stay at the camp in order for their plan to work. 

As soon as they were at the entrance, the sound of drums and threatening growls were heard from inside. Vaas said he recognised it immediately.

“They’re doing a ritual. I don’t know what the fuck’s going on in there, but Citra must be really taken with your white boy brother.”

They marched out, and Jason stood in front of the entrance. He told the other men to wait first. See if they attack or not. Vaas was positioned close next to him. At first Jason had told him it was okay if he went on alone, but the pirate had disagreed completely and wouldn’t back away now.

“Grant, it’s me! It’s Jason. I’m here to make a deal. Let me in!” 

The sounds of the drums got softer, but didn’t stop altogether. Jason was about to call again, but the stone entrance opened before him, making the ground shake underneath his feet.

There were two men with guns, they looked shaken at the sight of all the pirates. Jason looked in and saw Grant, his chest was nude and painted with red paint. All symbols he’d never seen were spread over his body. 

A woman’s voice boomed from farther away, “Let them in, saudara.” 

The two guards stepped aside and Jason walked in slowly, Vaas following behind. The music made his head pound, but Jason moved on, looking at all the Rakyat. Finally, above the stairs he saw Grant. He was different. There was nothing in his eyes that made Jason remember the brother he’d been.

The woman spoke up again, a smile in her voice, “Look, my dear brother Vaas decided to show up for the Warrior-Ceremony. Do you remember, Vaas? Apakah Anda bahkan ingat diri sendiri?”

Jason looked at Vaas, wondering if he knew what was being said. Looking at his angered eyes and his showing teeth, he probably did. And it wasn’t good.

Grant looked confused between all of them and Jason glared back. In Grant’s hand there was the ancient knife. He remembered it from somewhere: that was the knife Buck had wanted in exchange for Riley.

“Jason? What are you doing here?” Grant called, looking hesitant.

Jason stepped further into the realm, looking at the giant tree until his eyes fell upon two women. Tied up on two crosses, their mouths gagged. Liza and Daisy! He hadn’t imagined them to be in this state…

“To get Liza and Daisy back. Vaas, let him hear the walkie-talkie.”

Vaas took it out of his pocket, pushing in a button: “Hello, this is your king speaking, please let me hear Riley’s little screams after the beep. Beep.” he smirked into the gadget.

Grant’s eyes widened as he heard the answering call.

“G-Grant, are you there?” a small whimper from Riley and a growl from Carlos got through, “It’s me, please help. Let Liza and Daisy go, please, please.” the voice on the other end turned into small sobs until the sound stopped completely.

“You can’t do this, J,” Grant said darkly, shaking his head, “Don’t make me do something bad.”

“Seemed to me like you were already planning that, really.” Jason replied, nodding at the two girls, he tried to keep his voice as cold as possible, “If you don’t hand them over, I’ll kill Riley. I’ve got back-up here, too, so I won’t be too scared to kill you too.”

“You fucking jerk!” Grant called, but Citra’s hands were on his body again, rubbing them in slow circles, walking around him like a serpent. She kept whispering things, Jason could see it, but the drums made it impossible to hear what she was saying. “You’re brainwashed, J! Get away from him. I’ll spare you and Riley, I promise.”

Jason chuckled, seriously laughing now, “I’m the one brainwashed? Look at that snake slithering around you and deciding your every word!” 

Citra looked foul, her face scrunched up in a sour glare. 

“Ten more seconds, Grant. Vaas, get him back on the line, make Carlos pull the trigger at zero.” 

Vaas turned on the walkie-talkie again, talking into it with a big smile directed at the oldest Brody. 

Grant panicked as Jason growled out the seconds which ticked by. 

9

“Fuck, guys, don’t do this.”

8

“J, not Riley, come on-”

7

“Stop! Just stop!”

6

“Please!”

5

“Untie Liza and Daisy! _Now_!” Grant yelled, but there was no movement coming from any of the Rakyat. 

Citra looked utterly displeased, placing her hands on her hips, “Grant, you have to stay strong for all of us. You said you would not forget.”

Grant pushed her aside and the Rakyat stopped their drumming, making angry sounds at how Brody was treating their leader. Grant ignored it and cut off Liza and Daisy’s bindings, making the girls fall to the ground. 

The rest of it all happened so quickly. Citra moved back slowly, while the two girls tried to walk away. And suddenly there was Citra’s voice, loud and shrill: “Bunuh mereka! Kill them all!”

Jason stepped back, taking out his gun immediately, Vaas did the same standing with his back against Jason. The rifles came out quickly and the Rakyat were shooting in no time. 

Jason was able to make the first few kills with his own rifle before he noticed the dangers coming from inside of the temple, about twenty men with guns at the ready. He ran away to stand behind one of the stone blocks that had fallen to the ground. 

“Back-up! Fucking come up here already!”

Vaas wasn’t moving. He stood in the middle of the courtyard, gun in his hands. It was aimed at Citra who stood right before him. On her face was a smile.

The rest of it was all a blur as a sweep of red pirates stormed in, blocking his view of the scene. There was shooting and groans and blood. Streams of blood. Jason gathered his thoughts and continued aiming, thinking of the threat before them. What about Liza and Daisy? They had to be safe at the back somewhere…

Jason ran forwards, rolling over the ground to hide behind another pillar, shooting an attacker in the chest before he could reach him. He moved on, feet quicker than his mind: a flash of skin and red streaks, he held up his gun and shot before he’d even looked. Grant fell down, his chest bleeding heavily. 

“Fuck, fuck… Grant, that wasn’t…” it hadn’t been his intention. Not this way, he didn’t kill his brother, not in this way. Not without saying sorry first, not without explanation. 

Jason ducked towards his brother, holding his face. He’d shot him lethally, right in the heart. Blood was gushing out with every beat of his dying heart. 

“Grant, I’m sorry,” he whispered, looking into his brother’s eyes as they slowly dimmed. Jason held Grant’s head in his hands, holding him. He was dead. Gone. A lifeless body with nothing important left in it.

“Jason, help, please!” Jason looked up, he recognised that voice. It was Liza’s. She sat behind a pillar at the back of the temple, her leg was bloody and it seemed like she couldn’t walk anymore.

Jason stood up, forcing himself not to look back at Grant. He looked around himself before crossing the gap between them. “What’s happened?” he asked, inspecting Liza’s bullet wound. It seemed to have gone through her skin, but not through any of her bones or important muscles. 

“I don’t know, Jason, I just don’t know anymore, there were guns and…” she shrieked and Jason turned around, taking out his knife quick enough to push his blade through the stomach of his attacker. 

“Don’t worry, Liza. We have to get you out of here. Where’s Daisy?” Jason picked Liza’s lithe body up, holding his gun clumsily and trying to get her to the exit as quick as possible. 

“She ran inside, but I couldn’t keep up. She must still be in there.”

There were a few times when Jason had to stop and wait before a Rakyat was killed, but afterwards he was able to place Liza on the ground outside of the temple, telling her to ‘stay there’ as he ran back in. 

There was so much chaos, so much dead bodies. And Vaas was nowhere to be seen, nor was Citra. 

Jason looked in every hidden corner he could find, calling Daisy’s name until there was finally an answering call, even though it was only just a yelp.

Daisy was rolled up on the ground, shaking her head and crying. “I don’t trust you, Jason, you wanted- you killed Grant! You wanted to kill Riley! G-Go away!”

Jason knelt beside her, shushing a bit, “It was an act, Riley’s safe, I just tried to get you back. Grant was about to use you for a ritual, he’s been influenced. He was influenced…” Jason rubbed his hand over his face, trying not to think about all he’d done. Everything he’d fucking messed up. This couldn’t be the end of the journey. 

“I have to get you out of here. C’mon.” Jason leaned in, tugging at Daisy’s hand. Only after a while did she comply. 

Jason nodded at her, reloaded his weapon, and looked out at the battlefield. It had started raining, and the last few bodies of the Rakyat were shot by Jason’s men. It didn’t look well though. There were so many bodies and not all of them were Rakyat.

“It’s safe. Let’s get you back to camp now.”

 _But first_ , Jason thought after he dropped off Daisy in Liza’s arms, _I have to find Vaas._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all of your comments and kudos <3
> 
> In the next chapter you'll find out what's happened to Vaas and Citra...


	15. Chapter 15

Vaas shook his head, grimacing at his crazy sister. She kept talking in Indonesian about their pasts, about his fucking choices. His gun kept pointing straight at her head while she kept walking backwards, farther into the temple. All he hoped for was that Jason was okay, that he wouldn’t by lying somewhere with the corpses when he got back.

“I will kill you!” Vaas threatened, to which Citra merely smiled, holding up her palms to show that she wouldn’t fight back.

“Who’s keeping you, saudara? It is not me.”

Back from the inner courtyard came the sounds of gunshots and screams. Rain was starting to pour down on them, falling in heavy drops on their arms and faces.

Citra threw her hands back down and the pirate pressed his gun harder into her forehead, to which she cocked her head.

“Fuck, you bitch…” he muttered, shaking his head. Citra was even more twisted than him. She’d always been that way. Back when they were children she’d always used him. Abused him in any psychological way possible.

“You’re so close, aren’t you, Vaas? You’re almost a warrior.” Citra smiled again, her eyes blazing.

Vaas waited a second too long when he saw Citra’s hand come from behind herself, holding a small knife. It was made out of the claw of a tiger.

Vaas jumped back quickly, but the bended tip of the knife had already made a hole in his singlet and broken a bit of his skin. Nothing lethal, just painful. Blood slid out warmly over his skin, mixing with the raindrops.

Citra twisted the dagger around in her hand, positioning herself like a predator before her brother. “You remember this, Vaas? We played with daggers a lot, yes? We made them ourselves to survive.”

The pirate shook his head wildly, he didn’t want to remember, no fucking way. “No! Shut up!”

Citra continued, “We had fun. Your first kill. My saviour. You killed father for me.” she looked so proud with her mad fucking eyes.

Vaas remembered it well. How his father had always disapproved of the tribe, how he would always touch his stepdaughter. Every day again, and the screams, all those fucking screams. He hadn’t even meant to kill him, just to warn him. But the blood was too much…

“Shut the fuck up, puta!” the pirate shot her, but as affected as he was by her words, his bullet only got through her shoulder, nothing lethal.

Citra laughed wildly, her arm only slumping a bit, but showing no further sign of discomfort. She lashed out with her dagger, but Vaas knew the Rakyat’s technique and easily evaded the attack.

“My big brother. Don’t you remember how I loved you?” Citra stepped close quickly, taking Vaas’s wrist so the pirate couldn’t escape her grip. He pulled away, but her dagger was already nearing his throat. It was sharp and dangerous.

“And then mother, too. You were so strong. You could’ve been my warrior! Vaas Talugmai!”

Vaas shot, knowing it had to be done before his throat was cut. It was survival of the fittest, after all. Kill, or be killed. The bullet shot through Citra’s stomach, piercing her skin and making her eyes widen in surprise as she looked up for the last time to meet his gaze. Her eyes were dark. As dark as they’d always been.

Vaas pushed her off of him as she slumped down against him. He only realised now he was panting and that his hands were shaking. Now he’d killed his sister too. Nothing left of his family…

“Fuck, fuck, fuck!” he cried out, holding his head in his hands as he looked down at the corpse of his sister, “Citra, you bitch, you made me do it!” He had no idea what to do so he kicked at her legs hard, trying to show her how angry he was. “Citra, you’re dead, aren’t you? Fucking dead…”

Quick footsteps came from behind him and he turned around, holding up his gun. It was Jason. He looked just as broken as Vaas was feeling.

“Are you alright, shh, lower the gun, I’m coming. I’m coming.” Jason stepped towards him slowly as Vaas kept on trembling. He lowered his arm and cried out a long howl.

—

Jason had never seen the pirate this way: broken and scared and so completely angry. His eyes were wide and his teeth were showing. Vaas even screamed through the temple to let off some steam.

“Shh…” Jason hugged the man when he got close enough, holding him closely and rubbing over his back. Citra’s body laid on the ground in front of him. The rain made the blood that gushed out look like it was even more than it actually was. “It’s alright, really-“

“Fuck, Jason, what is happening to me? I’m being a pussy over this fucking shit. She’s always been a bitch, but now she’s fucking dead and it’s so frustrating.” Vaas’ arms were wrapped around Jason, pulling him closer into a hug then he’d ever been.

“I know.” Jason whispered, “It’s family after all.”

“They were always like: ‘Vaas, Vaas, who the fuck is it going to be? Them, or me? Me, or them?’.” Vaas squeezed Jason’s body even closer, shaking his head into his shoulder, his breathing sounded like he was almost chuckling, “Like they fucking think that I need to make a fucking choice. But now I made that choice, you know? What does that make me, huh?”

Jason really didn’t know. Had they both killed their own siblings just to become messed up like this? Was this someone’s fucking joke or experiment? This was what happens when there are two sides to survive in the jungle…

“I killed Grant. I haven’t… I haven’t said goodbye to him, yet. I’m not sure what to do. Everything’s messed up, right now.” he dislodged himself from Vaas, not looking up into his eyes, “It makes us the same, doesn’t it? Rook Island changes people.”

-

_" 'Have you guessed the riddle yet?' the Hatter said, turning to Alice again._

_'No, I give it up,' Alice replied: 'what's the answer?'_

_'I haven't the slightest idea,' said the Hatter."_

—

They walked back through the temple where Jason knelt beside his brother. He whispered some words softly, ashamed that Vaas would hear them, and laid his hand over Grant’s heart. Jason stood up and pulled Grant up by the shoulders, dragging him towards the tree and making him sit against it. At least that was somewhat of a honourable grave. It looked better this way.

Vaas said nothing as Jason returned to him, he only nodded once and turned towards the exit. The younger Brody -no, the oldest Brody, now- was glad for it. If there was one thing he didn’t want was to talk about this right now. The first objective to their plan had succeeded and they needed to go on, whatever hardships would get in their way.

Liza and Daisy sat in the back of the truck. The pirates were helping Liza with her bullet wound and Daisy was cleaning another wounded pirate. They looked up at Jason, but didn’t say a word. Both of them looked tired.

“Where are we going?” Jason asked Vaas, rubbing in his eyes.

Vaas shrugged, feeling at his pockets and taking out a cigarette and a lighter, “My camp’s not good for your peras. And I don’t wanna stay here in this fucking temple of death. There’s another temple, though, Temple of Stone. Takes about 20 minutes to drive there.”

Jason nodded, “We can go there, but we have to pick up Riley first.”

“Sure thing, but… We need to have prove that Grant’s dead. Hoyt will doubt your ass if you come back with just some fucking words.”

Jason thought about it. He didn’t want to defile Grant’s body. Cutting off a finger or anything was a definite ‘no’.

“Here,” he said, taking his camera from his bag, “You make some photos. I can’t do it right now.”

Vaas thought about it for a moment before he nodded and walked off. Brody decided to check on his friends in the meantime.

“Hey, Liza.” he sat down next to her on the back of the car, looking at how Daisy avoided him and walked away towards another pirate that was laid out on the ground.

“Hey, J.” she replied, still looking down at her bandaged leg.

“I guess things are pretty rough now, aren’t they?”

Liza looked at him with a silly expression, “Yeah, well, obviously. This isn’t what I do every weekend, to be frank.”

Jason smiled slightly, shaking his head, “Don’t be like that. You know what I mean.”

“I do,” she replied, “I really do, but what is there to say, Jason? It’s not me who wanted to go skydiving anyway. I could be enjoying a tequila at the newest film-shot in Hollywood right now. Look at the shot I did get, though. It’s quite different.” she pointed at the bloody bandage and Jason smirked a bit. He knew Liza was using her words to try and make him feel guilty, but he didn’t wanna go into it right now. There was too much on his mind to argue.

Daisy returned to them, blowing out some air. There were dark circles underneath her eyes. “These men are disgusting,” she commented, “I help them get cleaned up and they mutter about me looking like a barbie and that they would ‘wanna play with me anytime’.” Daisy put her hands on her hips, “So I pushed the little bullet right back in. That’s what you get.”

The three of them chuckled. It was funny because Daisy usually wasn’t like this. She was usually very sweet, but when she got angry, she’d always be determined to strike back.

An awkward silence fell upon them as the rain started to slow down. The stench of death would get worse in a few days time and it wasn’t smart to stay here for very long, knowing that predators would come quickly. He knew, just by looking, that Daisy hadn’t forgiven him yet for killing Grant. He didn’t even forgive himself, didn’t know if he ever could. Was it right to kill someone who weren't themselves anymore? Liza and Daisy weren’t in immediate danger after they were let go, but Jason was sure Grant’s plan had looked as macabre as it seemed. But did that still justify killing a brother?

“Jason, I’ve got the pictures,” Vaas called, “Let’s get that motherfucker of a Riley and take your peras to the Temple of Stone.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I never thought this would get even over 10 kudos, but I'm so thankful that you people like it. Your comments and kudos make me so happy!
> 
> Please keep enjoying, I'll update again as soon as possible <3


	16. Chapter 16

Riley knew _he_ was incredibly nervous, but had no idea about Carlos. The man fulfilled his bodyguard-ing role well: there wasn’t a moment he wouldn’t spot his eyes on him from somewhere, but never did his eyes twitch or did he look out of depth. Riley kept wondering about his brothers. About their little act. He almost couldn’t believe he’d agreed to playing like he was being captured, but it was all to get their friends back. Maybe Grant would come back, too. Maybe he wasn’t as influenced by the Rakyat as Carlos had expected him to be.

“Do you know the leader of the Rakyat, Carlos?” Riley asked from one of the balconies where he sat sheltered from the rain. He was fiddling with a small branch, breaking it into small pieces thoughtlessly.

“Yes. It’s Citra.” Carlos kept standing in the rain, it looked like he was entirely unaffected by it, “It’s Vaas’ sister. When I met Vaas for the first time he was struggling with drugs because of her. I don’t know the whole story.” he shrugged, “Just always assumed she was a bad person.”

Riley nodded. How could those two ever be siblings? Hadn’t he heard about the Rakyat and pirates being each others worst enemies? He thought about Citra and her tribe. Were they really that bad? This island was theirs, right..? So many questions all the time..

“Do, uh… Do Vaas and Jason sleep in the same building? I thought I saw them coming out of there…” the younger Brody continued, gazing hesitantly up at the other man. There was a small smile ghosting on Carlos’ lips

“There’s two beds. That’s all I know.” he replied mysteriously. It sounded far too insinuating for Riley’s liking…

The sound of a motor engine came from far and Riley jumped up, looking at the entrance of their camp. He couldn’t see anything yet because of all the trees, but he was sure the cars were coming this way.

Riley nibbled on his lip, frowning as he waited. Thunder struck and then it finally appeared through the vines of the jungle: three cars packed with pirates, in the last of them sat his friends and Jason.

“Daisy and Liza, holy shit, I can’t believe you made it..!” he ran towards the car after it pulled over, hugging the girls one after another. Jason jumped out of the car and disappeared into one of the buildings without saying another word. His face had been angry for as far as Riley had seen.

“What’s up?” he asked after the girls still didn’t say anything, “Are you okay?”

Liza threw her hands up first and growled, “Typical, Jason! Leave me to be bring the bad news, real fucking mature! He’s such an asshole.”

Vaas turned around in the front seat, looking at Liza like she’d just said the filthiest thing he’d ever heard, “What the fuck did you just say, pera? How about you shut the fuck up before I hang you up here somewhere, hm? Hanging down from a nice fucking tree, would you like that?”

Liza’s mouth was opened in surprise, looking utterly offended, “Why the hell would you say that? Who are you, even?”

Vaas spit on the ground, ignoring her and looking at Riley, “Is she important to Jason, because I might just slice her open, because fuuuck!”

Riley tried to smile, but felt he failed, “I think she’s pretty important, yes…”

Daisy was still silent in the back of the car. It looked like she’d been crying. What had happened?

He was about to ask, but Jason returned, his eyes blazing and his hands full with weapons which he threw in the back of the car. “C’mon, Riley, we’re moving to another place where it’s safer.”

Riley frowned, looking from one person to the next, “Did the plan succeed? Are we still in action? About to save Oliver and Keith, right?”

From behind Liza came a soft, humourless laugh: it was Daisy, “Yes, it succeeded. Grant’s dead and Jason is about to become the king of the island. So much for our hope. If Grant were still alive… I’m sure he would’ve rescued us…” Her voice broke and she turned away again.

Riley looked at Jason, shaking his head, “What does she mean, J? That can’t be true, right?”

Jason growled to himself and looked around helplessly, “I don’t know. Well, Grant is dead. That is what I do know, but Daisy’s been ranting on about how Grant would fucking save her and all that bullshit. Face the goddamn truth, he was about to kill you!” Riley had the feeling Jason was talking more to Daisy than to him, right now.

“You don’t know that for sure! Look at yourself, Jason. You’re so different, look at your hair, look at your guns and your shirt bathing in blood! You disgust m-”

Two gunshots broke the argument unexpectedly, making all eyes and attention go straight to Vaas and his pistol. He’d shot in the air and his gun was still pointed upwards. His voice was frighteningly soft, “Can you all, for one small fucking minute, shut the fuck up and take care of business, okay? You’re acting like stupid fucking white people and it’s making me so. Very. Pissed off.”

Jason sighed, walking around the car to step in next to the driver’s seat, he didn’t even look that bothered by how Vaas acted, “Riley, we have to go. You can sit with Liza and Daisy, because I’ve had enough.”

“What about Carlos?” he asked, looking behind him at the ever present figure by his side.

Vaas spoke up instead, “He’s my bodyguard, okay? Not yours… But okay, take him with you, the fuck do I care?”

Riley waved Carlos over and stepped in next to an angry Liza and a crying Daisy. In the midst of them sat Riley and Carlos, their faces deadpanned. Riley’s head was swimming with thoughts. Had Jason really changed that much? Was there nothing left, but his killer instinct..?

—

_" 'What do you mean by that?' said the Caterpillar sternly. 'Explain yourself!'_

_'I can't explain MYSELF, I'm afraid, sir' said Alice, 'because I'm not myself, you see.'_

_'I don't see,' said the Caterpillar."_

—

 Hoyt smiled when he got the pictures of Grant Brody’s body. The bullet had hit him right in the heart, where a stream of blood seemed to be leaking out. So Jason really was the good marksman Vaas had told him to be.

He flipped through the other pictures which were zoom-ins on the wound. It even showed the depth in his wound, how marvellous.

“Look at this, Keith!” Hoyt called, holding up his mobile phone and showing it to the man standing next to him, “Do you know him?”

“F-Fuck,” Keith muttered through his split, red lips, the dried blood still visible on his chin. The boy steadied himself against the wall and Hoyt laughed happily.

“Quite right. Can you believe Jason Brody did that? I’m not sure I can. It’s time to finally meet the wonder-boy, don’t you agree?”

“Shit, that can’t be true, Jason’s a good guy…”

Hoyt shushed him again, taking back his phone. “That’s quite enough. I enjoy your voice, but not when talking about Jason Brody. I’ve a better use of your mouth in mind, right now.”

—

Vaas’ ringtone went off, the infamous sound of a guitar and a hard bass afterwards, a woman’s voice starting to sing: ‘I fly like paper, get high like planes…’.  
Before Jason could hear more of it, though, the pirate had already picked it up.

“Vaas Montenegro, hola,” he said and Jason smiled. He’d never actually known what Vaas’ surname was. Montenegro. He had to remember and ask what that meant later.

“Ah, Hoyt. Of course. Today? Fuck, I don’t know.” Vaas steered the wheel with one hand, avoiding crashing into a fallen tree, “Alright, alright. We’ll come. Wait, let me ask him,” he turned to Jason, but Vaas changed his mind, “You want to- Okay, here.” he handed over the phone and Jason took it clumsily, not having expected that.

He was about to talk to Hoyt Volker.

Jason put the phone to his ear and heard the voice, sharp and dangerous, far too close. “Hello there, Jason Brody. Are you ready for a little rendezvous?”

“I am,” he answered, putting up his coldest voice, “You want to meet me today?”

“Oh, yes, please. I’ll be quite pleased.”

“So will I.”

“And I’m sure Keith will be too. Ta ta!” Hoyt had hung up, the shrill sound of a beep taking over.

Jason felt anger course through him. How dare he. How dare that motherfucker-  
 Anger surged through him and he threw the phone out of the car, making Vaas hit the brakes and make them all stagger forward. From the backside of the car came the sounds of Liza and Daisy’s groans along with swears.

“What the _fuck_ , Jason? That was my fucking phone! You think you can just do that? Go get it back, you little bitch.” Vaas drove backwards a little and stopped the car, folding his arms in front of his chest.

“Just leave it, what the hell does it matter anymore?” Jason growled, running a hand through his hair frustratedly.

The pirate breathed through his nose like a bull, “Get my fucking phone back, there’s important shit on it.”

Jason caught Vaas’ eyes, leaning forward and baring his teeth at him, “Make me.”

The pirate’s lips slowly turned into a smile and he ducked forward, taking Jason’s face in his hands and pressing their lips together. Vaas was doing a wonderful job of being passionate and Jason awkwardly moved his head in a more comfortable position so their noses wouldn’t be bumping, until he realised that he was still angry and the kids in the backseat could all see them.

He staggered backwards, pushing Vaas away from him and climbing out of the car as quick as he could. Liza and Riley were staring at him with big eyes, but he ignored it, looking for the phone. Which idiot would even throw a phone away in the bloody jungle. Jason tried to focus on that and not on his red face. He spotted the phone quick enough next to a small tree in the grass, but beside it was a hissing green snake.

“Nothing ever goes easy, does it?” he muttered to himself, grabbing a stick and trying to push the snake out of his hand’s reach. At last he found the gap between him and the snake big enough and he took the phone, looking at its broken screen. It didn’t look that bad…

He walked back to the car (ignoring all of their eyes yet again) and stepped back in, handing the phone over to Vaas.

“Gracias, Jason.” the pirate said with a big smile, starting the engine again and driving off again. Jason was going to have a long talk with his friends about this was what he assumed after having seen their faces. Would he ever hear the end of it?

—

After about half an hour they reached the temple Vaas had spoken of. It wasn’t quite as big as Citra’s temple had been, but it would suffice. Even though half of it had fallen to the ground and the other half was hidden by vines and grass growing on it, it still looked majestic and beautiful.

Carlos hadn’t said a word, he’d just picked up all the weapons and guns and started carrying them into the temple like it was his job. It really was quite handy to have him there.

Vaas and Riley entered the temple afterwards, leaving Jason and the two women behind. Just the way he hadn’t wanted it to go.

“Are you gonna explain yourself on that one?” Liza asked, a disgusted tone to her voice. Jason felt his blood boil. Why did every single fucking one of his friends want to change him. All they’d ever wanted was the perfect patriot Grant had been. They all wanted him as a son, a boyfriend, husband and whatever more.

“What? Which fucking one? Did you mean me saving you from the Rakyat? Did you mean me killing Grant, or did you mean me ‘liking boys’, huh? Which one is it?”

Liza, flabbergasted by his answer, took a little time to regain herself, “Jesus, Jason… What’s wrong with you? Fuck, I wouldn’t care if you were just gay, but that guy’s crazy, alright? A fucking psychopath, probably!”

“Oh, fuck off. Just go cry about Grant again, he’s the one you wanted to be dating in the first place, wasn’t it?”

“Jason! How dare you, that’s your brother!”

“We stopped being brothers as soon as he chose the Rakyat before all of us!” he bit, finishing the argument and storming off. He needed to get away from these people as soon as possible, calm his nerves and just relax for a while…


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I passed 100 Kudos!! Thank you all so much <3
> 
> Enjoy reading and drop a comment if you want, it really makes me so happy :D

Jason sat in front of a small lake in the midst of the mountains. It wasn’t very far away from the Temple, but far enough not to hear their arguing. Maybe in the jungle he could relax for a while. Even when he’d only just come here, he’d felt a strong connection with the nature. It seemed to adapt too, just like him. The vines twirling around the trees to reach the top in order to gain sunlight, the crocodiles in the ponds that hid darkly beneath the lotus flowers. Everything felt perfectly in place, like there was a balance and he belonged to it now. This jungle had become a part of him, wrestled its way into his heart. But that was not the only thing that had done so…

“Jason! Show yourself, I don’t wanna play fucking hide ’n seek, okay?” Vaas’ voice echoed through the trees and Jason turned around, waving his hand a few times before the pirate noticed him. He ran down the hill and plopped down next to Jason, scaring a few of the fishes that Jason had noticed coming to the edge of the lake.

Vaas took out a spliff and lit it up, putting it between his lips. Jason had no idea where all those things came from. Did he always take a packet of those things with him, hidden somewhere in his trousers?

“Tell me a bit about Citra. If you don’t mind me asking… what did she say to you back there?” Jason asked, not meeting Vaas’ gaze and looking instead into the clear water.

“Fuck, way to ruin a good mood, amante.” Vaas replied, not sounding too serious, “She said some shit in her mother tongue. Like ‘hey, Vaas, do you remember yourself? Brother, you were everything to me’, it’s all just bullshit, to be honest.”

Jason nodded, pulling out some of the grass next to him and tearing it up into little pieces, “What about your childhood? I thought I heard her say something about you being a warrior?”

Vaas inhaled sharply, stomping out his spliff and shaking his head, “That’s fucking personal, Jason.”

He smiled and looked back up at Vaas, shrugging, “I don’t mind. I trust you.” 

The pirate snorted and laid down in the grass beside him, “Yeah, well… she wanted me to become her warrior. Which meant we had to fuck. You know, tribe rituals and all that bullshit…”

Jason’s eyebrows rose, looking at Vaas expectantly.

“I didn’t want to, you know. I wasn’t fucking insane or anything, who’d fuck their sister, come on.” Vaas rolled his eyes and sighed, “So she got angry, forced me to do other shit and I ran away. Before that I had to kill mom and dad for her. Which sucked, too. I guess that’s why she wanted Grant. To have another warrior and fuck him. The fucking part is for getting a child, by the way. They’ll become the new warrior and that sorta shit.”

Jason nodded slowly, still staring at Vaas. He’d talked about it so lightly, but Jason noticed the melancholic tone attached to his voice and the sadness written across his features. He couldn’t imagine how it felt to lose every piece of family. Not only that, but being manipulated to make them die by your own hand. 

“That sounds pretty terrible…” Jason said softly, laying himself down on his side next to Vaas and placing a hand on the man’s arm. Vaas looked up at him, smiling ever so softly. He couldn’t imagine what was going through the other man’s head right now. Jason was content with just lying there, watching him as the pirate gazed back.

After a minute or two, Vaas sat up, taking off one of his necklaces and holding it in his hand. It was a necklace with a green shard hanging on it, with two pointed edges downwards. “Sit up, Jason.”

Jason obeyed, quicker than he’d ever obeyed to a command by Vaas before, and looked curiously. The pirate positioned himself behind Jason, tying up the necklace behind his neck and nuzzling his nose into his hairline. Jason grinned, looking down at the necklace and holding it in his hand. 

“Are you giving it to me?” he asked, tracing the outline of the stone with his finger.

Vaas nuzzled further, wrapping his hands around Jason’s waist and fumbling with his singlet a little to get his hands to Jason’s naked torso. “Sì. And don’t make a fucking cheesy comment or I’ll bite your ear off.” the man licked at Jason’s ear, nibbling on it gently. Jason eagerly leaned back into it, still smiling. Vaas had found his way into Jason’s heart too, however insane it sounded, and not in a way he could easily describe or explain. It had just happened. Christ, maybe it was insane, but the feeling was still fucking wonderful and perfect in its own crazy way.

“Don’t wanna go to Hoyt…” Jason muttered, turning himself around and placing a gentle kiss on Vaas’ lips. Vaas leaned back a little, grin on his face. Jason would almost say he was looking at him proudly.

“Me neither.” the obvious thing was left unsaid, however. They had to go. Life wasn’t as easy anymore that they could simply cancel this appointment and be done with it. One couldn’t simply say ‘no’ to Hoyt or make him wait. Especially not when he had someone you cared about in his hands.

—

Riley was torn between disliking Jason or forgiving him. While the first option was never really a choice, the two girls had made it awfully clear that they did, indeed, dislike Jason. And they were trying hard to make Riley believe the same. 

“He felt no remorse killing Grant.” Daisy had said, to which Liza had nodded. 

“And he’s changed. I’ve never heard him swearing like that before. Or looking like… a savage, for that matter.”

Riley couldn’t believe Jason had simply killed Grant like that. It was still hard to believe his biggest brother wasn’t alive anymore. Jason had been so sweet when he’d saved him from Buck, but just seconds before he’d killed the man without any mercy, even stabbing him after he was already dead. Maybe he had changed, but maybe it was necessary. Riley could even feel himself being pulled into the darkness of the jungle at times. He heard it call in his head, felt how it urged him to come and explore and become a survivor. It was so tempting, especially with Liza and Daisy being so against the aspect of it. 

He turned away from them, making them stop in the midst of their conversation. They must’ve still been talking about Jason, but Riley didn’t care anymore. He walked up to Carlos, sitting in a dark corner of the temple, and held out his hand. Carlos frowned up and him, but took his hand anyway, standing up. 

“Let’s go hunting, okay?” Riley asked, a smile playing around on his lips. He hoped Carlos would agree. 

He looked hesitant, frowning down at the much younger boy, “I don’t think Vaas or Jason would agree.”

“So what? We still need food. You can’t let those idiots decide everything for you!” they smirked at each other, but Carlos still shook his head.

“My way of surviving is agreeing with the boss at all times. It’s turned out well for me so far.”

Riley sighed and walked up to the weapons. The other man seemed to follow him anyway. “I’m hungry, though. Come on!”

—

Vaas and Jason had kissed a bit more underneath the settling sun, touching each other carefully and being gentler than they usually were. If they hadn't been on the Rook Islands with Jason's friends being captured and ready to be enslaved, it might’ve been a bit more romantic. But at that moment, it was just a matter of needing and taking whatever they could of each other. And, God, did it feel good.

Now that it was done though, they reluctantly parted and kept their hands back to themselves. It was time to return to the temple and make themselves ready for their meeting with Hoyt. As they returned, Riley was hopping round outside the temple, gun at the ready and Carlos behind him, as always.

“What are you doing?” Jason asked his little brother, putting his hands on his hips, “You can’t just run around with guns like that.” 

He heard Vaas snigger at that behind him and realised he had maybe sounded a bit too degrading to his little brother.

Riley huffed at him, glaring, “Me and Carlos are going hunting. So you better get ready for a nice piece of boar.”

Vaas replied before Jason could, “Too bad we’re going to Hoyt today, huh?” he leaned forward in front of Riley and patted him on the head as if he was a cute little toddler who’d just told them he was going to become an astronaut.

Riley swatted his hand away and glared even more. “I can hit you, you know. Don’t pretend I’m weak. J, tell him I’m not weak!”

Jason shrugged, trying really hard to hold back his laughter, “I propose you show him.”

Vaas nodded eagerly and smirked, holding up his arms and hands, “Show me, Jason’s teeny brother-”

Before Vaas could continue, Riley had ducked forward and kicked his knee straight into Vaas’ groin, making the pirate stagger backwards. It was awfully silent for a second or two before the swears came: “Ay, hijolé! Pinche idiota, hijo de tu puta madre! That’s my cojones you fucked up there!” 

Jason couldn’t contain his laughter anymore and let himself fall down unto the ground laughing. Riley was looking frightfully at Vaas and ran back towards Carlos, tugging at his sleeves to make him leave as soon as possible. Carlos agreed with the plan, nodding, and they both ran away into the forest, not looking back once. 

Jason was still laughing, “That’s my brother, Vaas!”

“A fucking piece of mierda, that’s what the fuck he is.” the pirate growled, clutching at his poor ‘cojones’ and looking angrily at Jason. 

Jason grinned widely, biting his lip, “Will they still work?” he asked, feigning concern.

“I hope so, amante, fuck… I might be crippled for fucking life.” 

“I certainly hope not,” Jason retorted, grin still in place, “Let’s get ready, okay?”

“You don’t understand the pain, Jason.” Vaas said in a whiny voice.

He rolled his eyes and stood up, wiping the sand off his pants, “Trust me, I do. But that doesn’t mean we can let Hoyt wait for your nuts to stop hurting.”

—

After they’d gotten ready and Jason had hugged the girls (much to his chagrin, but he felt he needed to do it), they’d stepped in the car and driven a long way. Vaas was still whining about it almost the whole ride long, but still he’d insisted that he should drive the car. Jason couldn’t believe he’d agreed to that, because the pirate was a fucking misery at driving. They went faster than Jason had ever gone on a normal road back in America and every time there was an animal or a person on the road, they’d swing around it while almost making the car fall over and landing in the bushes. Sometimes there was the sudden exclamation of ‘I know a shortcut here, Jason!’ and that was the sound that announced all hell was about to break loose. They drove over bumpy hills and through watery ponds. It was a bloody miracle they didn’t get stuck even once. 

After half of the journey was over, they took the boat over to the Southern Island before stealing someone’s car and continuing over land again. Jason noticed Vaas getting quieter as they neared. He didn’t seem to be in his element. Sometimes he made comments about ‘the fucking roads here’, which weren’t as bumpy and were sometimes even made out of concrete. There were bigger mountains around them and the whole place just seemed a bit more… boring. It had been changed from the way it had been in the past, and neither men seemed to like it. Jason soon missed the goannas and tigers when they entered the city full of privateers. He despised how they acted, how proud they were of changing nature to their will, placing a concrete village in the middle of paradise.

Vaas got out of the car and Jason followed, staying behind him and not walking as close as he was used to. The building in the middle was huge. Especially for Rook Island standards. Once inside, there were large stacks of cocaine placed against almost each wall. Jason wondered how much drugs was just lying around here, waiting to be sold. How much would it all be worth?

Jason looked back at Vaas, seeing the frown on his face and the tensing muscles in his fingers. He wondered whether he should be nervous too. All he needed to do was keep up the act of Vaas’ right hand man and not get angry at Hoyt at any time. Even if he did something to Keith… Fuck, Jason really hoped that didn’t happen.

They walked up the stairs and Vaas knocked on the two big doors in front of him. “It’s us.”

“Come on in, please.” a man, presumably Hoyt called. 

Vaas opened the door and held it open for Jason after whom he closed it. The room was dark, the only thing that gave light was the lamp on Hoyt’s desk which illuminated the room in an uncomfortable way. It shone on Hoyt’s face and Jason inspected him carefully. Dressed in a black suit with a red shirt underneath, he looked like a businessman. More so than Buck, at least.

Jason looked around the room more, eyes falling on a couch in the corner and more stacks of cocaine. Where was Keith?

“Finally I meet you. Come on, sit,” Hoyt said, smiling at him and nodding at the chair in front of the desk.

Jason looked at Vaas who nodded and he walked forward to sit down. 

“So you’re the famous Jason Brody,” Hoyt continued and Jason recognised his accent. Wasn’t that Afrikaans? The main language they spoke in South Africa. It would be pretty typical: a slave trader originating from South Africa. Hoyt meanwhile picked up a cigar and offered it to Jason, “Here, kid, join me for a celebratory Cohiba.”

Jason held eye-contact with the man, “I don’t smoke.”

Hoyt leaned back in his leather chair, smile widening, “Really? There are so few on my islands that don’t smoke.”

“I’m different than most people here.” he replied, keeping his cool.

Hoyt laughed and lit his own cigar, “Is that so? I can sense you want something from me, Brody. Has Vaas not satisfied you yet?”

Jason wondered how Vaas was reacting to that statement, but resisted the urge to look around and check. Instead he shrugged, “Vaas can only do so much. You’ve more power than him.”

The flattery seemed to be working: Hoyt’s smile grew even wider and he was soon smirking. “That’s quite right. Well, I suppose I should still give you a little welcoming gift to my clan, hm? And then I’ll tell you a little secret.” 

The slaver stood up, inhaling some smoke and exhaling it with a gleeful face, “I will let you in charge of two outposts. And I’ll even arrange some more pirates to obey your every will.”

“And then?” Jason’s eyes never left the man’s.

Hoyt walked around his desk, standing in front of Jason, “We’ll see, don’t worry about that. I’ll tell you the secret. Vaas knows it too.” Hoyt’s face leaned closer, his eyes an ice-cold shade of green-blue, “Do you know the real secret of keeping employees happy?” he took another inhale of his cigar, blowing it into Jason’s face as he talked, “Fear.” 

His eyes were so close and the smoke was so disgustingly prickly in his eyes, yet Jason didn’t look away. He knew he couldn’t show Hoyt any of his emotions. Hoyt’s smile crept up again, making Jason sick to the stomach. 

“So,” Hoyt spoke up again, leaning against his desk, “That’s it for now. Congratulations on being able to kill your own sibling. I know at least one person who couldn’t do it.” His eyes finally left Jason’s and fell on the man behind him: Vaas.

He heard Vaas taking in a sharp breath, but Hoyt stopped him from talking by putting up his hand. 

“I don’t want to hear it, Vaas, I’m talking to Jason Brody.” he glanced back down at him, “Under your command are now… hmm, Tequila Sunrise and Broken Neck Home. Oh, wait… weren’t those two of your favourite outposts, Vaas? Well, I don’t mind.” Hoyt smirked and patted Jason on the cheek, “Go on. Go to your outposts and make sure nothing bad happens. Tomorrow morning there’ll be extra pirates at the ready. All just for you, Brody.” 

Jason stood up and turned around, watching Vaas trying to keep calm as he tensed the muscles in his hand over and over again.

“Oh, wait. Is there anything you want to say to Keith?” Hoyt called after them and Jason froze in place.

Was there anything he could say without ruining his cover? He thought so hard about something, anything, that could give Keith a little hope again, “Tell him Wall Street’s still waiting.” There.

Hoyt frowned and stumped out his cigar, “An inside joke, I presume? I’ll make sure to deliver the message. Well, ta ta now.”


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys for all of your lovely feedback! Sorry that this chapter took a day longer to upload, I've been a bit busy. Nonetheless, I hope you can enjoy Jason's adventure!
> 
> When I hear how much you like it, it makes me so happy! Thank you!

“Why the hell did he give those outposts to me?” Jason asked as soon as they got out of the building. It had turned night and the stars were more visible than he’d ever seen before. Jason looked around carefully to see if anyone was watching or following them. “It’s like he’s pretending so hard to be a good guy.”

Vaas laughed humourlessly, lighting up a cigarette, it looked like a normal cig for once and not marijuana. “He likes buttering up his bitches. Used to do that to me. Manipulative as fuck.” Vaas held out the cigarette to Jason, “Wanna try some, Snow White? It’s not drugs. Not much, at least.”

Jason eyed him carefully, looking funny, “I trust you more than Hoyt.” he muttered, taking it from his hand and taking a long drag. He’d read often enough about how one could feel the chemicals flowing through their system, yet he didn’t feel anything at all. There was only the slight burning sensation in the back of his throat and lungs and a sick part in him liked it. He’d discovered that on Rook Islands. Every so often any sort of physical pain felt good, it made him forget about the psychological stuff.

Not feeling anything, still, he took another drag and Vaas snatched it back from his mouth in a swift motion, “Not so much, Jason, jesús…” he muttered, putting it to his own mouth and stepping into their car. “Hoyt’s trying to set me up against you. It’s not that subtle, I thought you’d have figured it out.”

Jason shrugged, stepping in next to the driver’s seat. He started feeling a little dazed and sleepy and wondered whether it was because of the cigarette or the exhaustion. His limbs felt so heavy.

“What do you mean?” he muttered, fastening his seat belt as soon as Vaas started driving.

“Fuck, Jason, are you dumb? He’s giving you some of my power and more of my men, fuck he even gave you the outposts near the weed instalments, he’s trying to make me fucking kill you.”

Jason realised it then, it had been so obvious. He blamed it on the mixture of grief, exhaustion and drugs. “You’re not gonna do that, right?” he asked, a big grin was resting on his face as he looked at Vaas.

Vaas smirked back at him, shaking his head, “Jason, amante, I’ve never seen someone get as fucking high as you are in just 5 fucking minutes.”

“Was it a date rape drug, because I’m really feeling like I should kiss you right now?”

The pirate let out a laugh that sounded suspiciously much like a giggle, “Stop that, motherfucker, go to sleep. I’ll fuck you some other time, okay? With drugs or without, I promise.”

Jason agreed wholeheartedly. As much as he’d wanted to escape the reality of Rook Island by being intimate with Vaas, there were more important things to be done. The first thing on his list was sleeping, actually, and he nuzzled himself into his seat to get a more comfortable position. Jason wondered how Vaas could stay awake for so long. He’d seen him not sleeping for days on end, even after taking drugs that would slow down others, Vaas just seemed to keep going on and on.

Maybe, after all this was over, they’d stay together. He’d never thought about it so much, but in Jason’s hazy dream world it felt like the most logical thing. Staying here on Rook Island, having crazy adventures and just being together. He loved the thrill. He belonged here.

—

Riley let Carlos give him some hints on how to shoot. He had shot twice now, but both shots weren’t lethal. The two of them needed to climb in a tree to avoid getting killed by the group of boars that had charged their way. Riley felt better high up in the tree, this way he could shoot without feeling so nervous.

“Try aiming at the head. Once one is dead, the others will smell the blood and leave.” Carlos whispered, his eyes focused on the ground beneath them. Riley nodded, reloading the gun (with a bit of trouble, because he wasn’t that strong), and aiming it at the grazing boar a few metres away.

“Follow his movements… There. Shoot it.”

Riley bit his lip hard and pulled the trigger, surprised yet again by the recoil of the gun. A loud cry came and Riley’s eyes widened. He’d hit it, hadn’t he? The other boars were crying and snorting and running away from the place.

“Oh my god, I got it,” he mumbled, beginning to smile, “I got it!”

Carlos patted him on the back and jumped out of the tree easily, walking over to inspect their kill. “It’s a big one too.” he said and whistled, “Enough for all of us.”

Riley cheered happily and put the gun back in his holster. “Great! Could you, uh… help me out of the tree, please?”

—

When Jason opened his eyes he was alone. Around him it was dark and the sky wasn’t lit by stars. He looked around, seeing mountains popping up and growing in front of his very own eyes. He saw trees jumping out of the ground, felt how the earth shook underneath him to his core. Jason looked at the barracks next to him, old concrete walls that looked new were build inside a hill. It felt like he flew over to them, inspecting their insides and seeing a man writing in front of him. He seemed Asian, Jason thought. Before he could see more, another man stepped in shooting the Asian man through his chest before leaving again. Jason didn’t feel terrified as a small light emitted from the man’s corpse. It sprung up and lit the sky, one small dot in the midst of all darkness.

Jason looked back down, but realised he wasn’t on the same place before. All around him he saw Rook Island, all around him were bunkers, the sound of guns, and small lights emitting everywhere to light the sky. What did it mean? Who were these people?

“Jason, I’ll stay. You can go out and find the rest, okay?” he heard Grant’s voice call and looked around.

“Grant? Is that you?”

“You can’t do this, J. Don’t make me do something bad.” Grant’s voice came again, it was audible from all around him, invading his ears from every side. Jason vaguely remembered his words, but couldn’t place them. It felt like a deja vu, everything he heard was so familiar, but just not right. Was it real? Had it been real in the first place?   
Jason walked forward, trying to follow the voice, trying to follow the uphill path that was created in front of him with every step he took.

“Stop! Just stop!”

Jason rushed forward when he saw the door of a temple appearing. He ran inside and saw himself running with a rifle in his hand. He could see Grant was standing out of his past self’s sight, could see how Grant stepped aside and how he raised his gun.

“No!” Jason yelled, running forwards to stop himself, to stop the kill, undo the past and help his brother. It hadn’t been his fault, he was brainwashed it wasn’t his fault!

The shot rang out loudly before Jason could’ve even taken a step further, the world fell around him, dark and heavy and raining down on him. In front of him lay Grant, his eyes dull and sad. Jason looked at him and cried. For the first time on the island he was crying, was letting the sadness that had settled with him for days out. It shouldn’t have gone like that. Shouldn’t have happened at all.

“I’m sorry, Grant… fuck, I’m so sorry, it was an accident.”

From Grant’s chest came the small light, too, it came right from the heart, but even though it had been hit by a bullet, the light came out unharmed. Jason looked up and saw it rising up above him and settle deep in the sky.

“I’m sorry.”

—

_“Everything’s got a moral. If only you can **kill** it.”_

—

“Jason, arriba, corazón, come on.” Vaas woke Jason gently. Vaas had seen the American mutter and whimper in his sleep and wondered whether he’d even had a night of sleep the last few days. He’d already carried him (bridal style) back in the boat and back into their other car, before finally waking him when they were back at the camp. The whole ride had been relatively calm, but now Jason’s eyes were filled with tears and he seemed to be struggling with his own body in the car, as if he couldn’t move.

Vaas wanted to stop the tears, stopped whatever was causing Jason to cry even in his dreams. If anyone had the right to make Jason cry, it would be him, but no one else in the entire fucking universe had that right. Jason was his.

The younger man blinked his eyes open, looking confused, “Where are we?”

Vaas smiled and helped him up, “Back at the temple. I think you had a bad, fucking nightmare, amante.”

“The temple?” Jason asked, sounding horrified, looking around and calming after a few seconds, “Fuck, I remember now. Sorry, I had a dream…”

Vaas nodded slowly, helping Jason stand up and walk into the temple, “Calm down there, you’re trembling, Snow White. Shh… Not gonna give you anything resembling drugs in a while, fucking hell.”

Inside the temple was a fire and the atmosphere felt good and welcoming. Even with Jason and Vaas coming back in, the friends were smiling and calling them over. Vaas growled to himself. He didn’t like Jason’s friends. They were dumb as fuck. They didn’t survive, couldn’t survive alone in the jungle. And even if they could, they’d still be annoying as fuck. At least Riley seemed to have a little more backbone then the others. He wondered how the other two friends were, Keith and Oliver.

“You okay, J?” Liza asked, looking worried. Vaas despised her most: she eyed Jason with longing eyes and Vaas with jealous and disgusted glares. She didn’t seem homophobic, she just seemed like a bitch. Besides, Vaas wasn’t gay. He just really liked Jason in a weird fucking way.

“M’fine. Just woke up. Damn, it smells so good in here.” Jason replied, unhooking himself from the pirate’s arms and sitting down beside the fire with them.

Riley piped up, grinning, “I shot the boar, you should eat it.”

Vaas looked over at Jason and was happy to see the man was smiling. He looked so proud. He had no idea how one could be this proud at such a pussy of a brother, but he’d be proud of Riley too if Jason was.

They ate together, stripping away pieces of meat from the boar and moaning in pleasure. It really was good meat, especially since they hadn’t eaten in a day or two. The two girls seemed to have calmed down a bit, too. Which was good for them, else Vaas had no other option but to kill them if they were being a bother.

After the meal, the girls retreated first to one side of the temple. Then it was Riley’s turn to leave, because he couldn’t hold back his yawns anymore, and Carlos followed him instantly.

“That leaves us, amante.” Vaas murmured, crawling over Jason who was lying on the ground with his head on a stone. He dropped himself down on Jason’s chest and the other man huffed and laughed at him.

“You’re heavy as fuck, you know. God knows how much your muscles weigh.”

The pirate grinned charmingly, “Don’t you think it’s sexy, Jason?”

“Super sexy to be crushed, yeah.” Jason replied with a big grin. Vaas sighed and gave in, retreating and laying himself down beside the man instead. Jason held out his hand and touched his scar gently, following the line with his finger. Even though it was old, it still felt like electricity shot through the scar whenever it was touched. The cut had been deep and it still hurt sometimes.

“What does Montenegro mean?” Jason asked.

“My surname, huh?” Vaas muttered, wrapping an arm around Jason and pulling him close “Nothing serious, it’s just Spanish for ‘black mountain’. What does Brody mean?”

Jason sighed and placed his hand on Vaas’, “Nothing serious, either. It’s Irish. I think it means second son.”

They were quiet, content to just be in each other’s warmth. The temple wasn’t that warm, but if they just held each other the right way, it was manageable.

“Jason, I really don’t want you to fucking die out there, you know?” Vaas hissed, squeezing Jason’s hand in an almost painful way.

Jason nodded, squeezing his hand back, “I don’t want you to die, either, Vaas.”

Which was possibly the closest they’d ever gotten to telling how much they cared for each other.


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this took longer (again)! I had all kinds of tests, but luckily your comments and kudos really drove me to continue writing. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy <3

Jason had awoken with a bad feeling in his stomach. Today was the day they’d attack the airport and save Oliver. Trying to make a plan hadn’t gone all that smoothly, as Vaas had been called continuously by either Hoyt or some other complaining pirates. It was clear Vaas couldn’t come with them, the privateers would notice immediately and warn Hoyt, but that didn’t mean Carlos couldn’t come.

“But what about me?” Riley muttered, his arms crossed in front of his chest. He looked different without his cap, especially with his hair ruffled in all the wrong ways, “You know I can fight. And I’m good at shooting, too!”

Vaas huffed, “He can crush cojones alright. I still need to punish you for that.”

Jason interrupted before Riley could speak up, “I can’t let you, Riley. It’s already dangerous for me, and I just… I just can’t afford to lose another brother, you know.’

The temple got silent for a second, making everyone remember Grant and the memories they shared of him. Maybe Vaas was thinking about Citra, instead. Jason didn’t know, he found it hard to guess what the pirate was thinking.

“I wanna come, too.” Daisy spoke up, softly, “I know martial arts. Grant taught me how to handle a gun, I’d say I’ll be pretty safe.”

Jason nodded, but still looked doubtful, “You must understand I don’t want to risk your lives.”

Sometimes he felt like they didn’t understand how much their lives meant to him. Even though he’d changed, that didn’t mean he was suddenly going to be heartless.

“So Daisy can go, but I can’t?” his little brother said again, shaking his head in a way that made his hair bounce up and down, “Do you think that’s good for me? Sitting on my ass all the time and wondering where the hell you are and what you’re doing and if you’re still alive.”

Jason didn’t know what to say, all he knew was that he didn’t want Riley to die. He knew how badly Riley wanted to help, but there was no way he’d let him sneak into a camp full of privateers with them, that was just crazy. 

“You can help, but not with the attack itself, okay? And you need to look after Liza, that’s also important.” it was a weak excuse, but Riley seemed to like it better than staying at the temple. Out of the corner of his eyes he could see Vaas rolling his. He felt like the pirate really had something against Liza, which filled Jason with guilty pleasure, knowing that Vaas was jealous of the girl.

“We’re heading off to Tequila Sunrise first. There we’ll get the pirates ready, Riley and Liza will help getting ammo and guns. Then Carlos, Daisy, the pirates and I will go to the airport. We’ll make the plan once we get there, alright?”

Everyone nodded except for Vaas, “Fuck, hermano, I don’t hear my name in your plan.” 

“That’s because I assume you aren’t coming with us.” Jason replied, eyeing him, “You have to get back to your own outpost and get things ready there, right?”

Vaas shrugged, sighing hard and dramatic, “I know, I know. It’s just that I won’t be there to protect you.”

Liza, Daisy and Riley probably didn’t try as hard to contain their laughter and chuckles as they pretended to be, while Jason pursed his lips and frowned.

“I’m not someone who needs protection! I killed off a bloody privateer camp before, you know. Gee.” he muttered, narrowing his eyes at the smirking Vaas.

“I still feel like you’d need my protection, Snow White. That’s all…” Vaas replied innocently, holding up his hands with a grin.

— 

Keith breathed hard and painful. He’d gotten out of the first building. Bruises covered his arms and legs. Maybe it hadn’t been such a good idea to jump out of the window in order to escape. He knew some of the men had heard him, though, but at least they hadn’t rung the alarm yet. 

Keith hobbled further through the bushes, a gun held in his trembly hands. He’d found it in one of Hoyt’s drawers among all the drugs and pills and other shit Keith hadn’t seen in even his wildest teenage years. God, how badly he wanted to get away from this place and go back to his home in Short Hills. Yes, dear fucking Short Hills, New Jersey, USA. That’s where he belonged, right next to Wall Street. 

When Hoyt had told him Jason’s message, Keith knew he had to go, because it was true. Wall Street was waiting for him to return, along with his family and the few leftover friends he still had after this. 

Keith rounded the corner, his breathing ragged. He was getting so paranoid, everywhere he looked were privateers watching him, but when he looked again, they hadn’t been there in the first place. He had to keep his cool in order to escape… 

“What do you mean you lost Keith Ramsay?” Hoyt’s voice boomed through Keith’s thoughts, making him freeze in place, “You had one fucking job-” a gunshot rang through the air, echoing dimly. Hoyt sighed. “Sam? Where the fuck is Sam. I want Sam Becker here immediately because you imbeciles can’t do a single thing right. Did you hear me?” 

“Sir, yes, but-” another gunshot and Keith couldn’t help but let out a soft breath that sounded like a soft whimper. He was too far away for them to hear, right?

“Sam Becker. Now.”

The sound of boots stamping away without a single word. Keith waited, he didn’t want to risk getting caught again. Not after last time. Last time when the beating came along with shrill laughter and maddening yells. He couldn’t take that anymore. Maybe one of the others could’ve been okay in a situation like this, maybe they could’ve made a plan, but Keith knew he couldn’t do it anymore. His mind was constantly screaming at him to just leave, just escape, and there was no thought in his mind that told him to go back to Hoyt, apologise and try to make up a better plan. 

Keith walked forward again, looking around the corner and seeing patrolling privateers. It was either out that way out, sneaking through the outpost without alarming anyone, or the way towards the beach, where there were less guards in sight, and a boat at the ready. The point was, if he took the boat, the whole camp would be alarmed and they’d follow him in no time. Going through the outpost self would be dangerous, but it could allow him to sneak away without anyone noticing. 

“Fuck, fuck, fuck…” Keith whimpered, shaking his head. These kind of choices were too hard. He knew he could get his shit together with the stocks at Wall Street, choosing when to sell and buy easily, staying calm at all costs. But, right now, it was so different. It was a matter of life and death. Grant knew how to do these things. Not him. Never him.

—

When they drove to the outpost, the atmosphere was tense, full of anxiety and fear for death. Even Vaas was snappy with his comments and made sure to tell everyone just how angry he’d get when Jason would get hurt. Jason had the feeling none of them really listened, at least he wasn’t. His mind was full with plans and situations he’d need to get through to get to Oliver. Vaas had gotten a call not long ago saying Oliver’s plane would arrive midway today. It made Jason stand on edge all the time, his eyes darting to everything that moved, holding his gun at the ready. 

“I want everyone ready within two minutes at the cars. We’re making an attack on the privateers’ airport today and I want you to give it your all.” Jason called from the stage, eyes cold.

“And who the fuck are you?” one of the more cocky pirates called, not moving from his spot. Luckily for Jason, Vaas was there to back him up.

“Do you want me to drive a bullet through your thick fucking skull, hermano? Shut the fuck up! This is Jason fucking Brody and he’s my right hand man so you’d better listen and hold your fucking mouth shut.”

The pirates grumbled angrily and Jason stood straighter. He didn’t like the feeling of the pirates not trusting him and disliking him. What did Hoyt say again? Fear was the best way to an employee’s loyalty…

He took one of his pistols from its holster and raised it to one of the complaining man. Could he make the kill? Jason looked at the anger in his victim’s eyes, which slowly turned to fear as he took the safety off. He pulled the trigger and watched the other pirates stagger back from around the corpse in apparent fear.

“I want you to listen to me, okay? As long as I’m in charge and you listen, it’ll be okay.” Jason said, his voice almost soothing. He wondered for just a second on what he’d become. Had it really been necessary to kill that man? “We’re leaving soon. Everyone get ready!” 

His pirates finally started moving, their eyes looking more determined than before as they got in their cars.

Vaas whistled behind him, a grin plastered on his face, “Amante, you’re getting so cruel.” he walked up to him and placed his hands on Jason’s shoulders, squeezing the tense muscle there, “You’re so fucking tense, Jason. Calm the fuck down. I’m going back to my outpost, okay? Carlos will help keeping your men in line. Don’t worry.”

Jason only nodded, looking down at the ground. In front of him was the man he’d shot, blood pooling from his head slowly. Did he feel bad about it? He wasn’t sure. It was like he wanted to feel bad, but in the end it all felt necessary. 

When he looked back around, Vaas was already gone and the men were ready at their cars, waiting for him to get in. It was time to save Oliver.

—

Keith bit his lip, looking back to Hoyt’s base. His instincts told him to run to the boat and just get the hell out of there, but there was a nagging part in his brain that told him to stay sneaky and try to get through the camp without alarming anyone. The point was, the latter option was so much harder and so much more terrifying to him. What if anyone saw him?

I have to do it, Keith thought to himself, I have to be stronger than this. 

He looked around the corner and saw two privateers talking to one another, their backs to him, he sneaked further behind them to the other building. His heart was already beating harder than it ever had, but he felt proud to have covered at least a small distance. 

Keith looked further, trying to get a hang of what the place looked like. He seemed to be at the west of the camp, and right behind him in the south was the sea. In front of him was a smaller stone construction with a man on top. That must be one of the snipers. He was constantly patrolling, first walking left and waiting a minute before turning and looking to the right. Keith was able to get behind its wall by making a sprint easily, sitting safely in the bushes underneath the wooden stairs that led up to the roof of the house. He caught his breath until a privateer walked past him. He didn’t seem to notice a thing. 

“Is Becker here already? He better come quickly before Hoyt decides to kill everyone on the camp.” the man called, his voice low and angry.

“I just can’t fucking believe it,” the sniper called back, and Keith could hear the sound of footsteps from the roof above him. “Haven’t seen a single thing all day. The fucker can’t have left camp already. Oh, and Sam’s just arrived. Saw his car.”

Who was this Sam Becker? An assassin? Maybe someone close to Hoyt who’d search for him. He was so close to the exit though, if he was able to get past the weapon racks and through the wooden hut, he’d be able to get out through the hole in the iron fence. 

One quick glance around assured him no one was there and he walked slowly towards the hut that was slightly more to the south of the camp. As he walked he spared a glance behind him, making sure the sniper wasn’t looking. Luckily he wasn’t and had his back turned to him, still.

Keith entered the wooden hut and let out a soft breath before he was pulled out roughly and a gun was pointed straight at his face. He let out a scared sob but the man pushed his hand over his mouth, hissing at him. His arms were covered with tattoos, he could make out a skull with a cigarette in its mouth and another one of the US Army with two rifles crossed. 

“Be silent, Dummkopf, I’m trying to tell you the plan here.” the man had an evident German accent and it didn’t help calming Keith’s nerves in the slightest. “You have to return to Hoyt. I will take care of him, trust me.”

And to hell if he’d trust a random fucking privateer with a German accent who promised to help him. Keith shook his head wildly, gun swinging wildly at his side. The man in front of him sighed and grumbled something to himself.

“If you’re gone Hoyt will be even more cautious. We can’t have that right now. Keith? Keith!” 

Keith hadn’t known he’d ever be such a fucking pussy, but right at the moment he couldn’t stop the tears from filling his eyes. The thought of returning to Hoyt was breaking him entirely, especially after having been so close to escape. The German looked silently at him with something resembling pity.

“Verdammt noch mal, Keith. Das können wir nicht machen, you have to stay strong for a little while more before we escape, klar?”

The privateer slowly removed his hand from Keith’s mouth, careful towards any noises he made. 

“I can’t,” Keith managed finally, shaking his head, “I’m gonna escape. I’m gonna find Riley and Oliver and… and whoever’s still left. I’m not staying, I can’t.”

The German licked his lips while he thought, his eyes scanning over the room beside Keith. “Scheiße, you’re really ruining our plans.” 

Voices started to come from the camp and the man turned around, glancing over the place. “It’s Hoyt. Go away, boy.” he pushed Keith backwards as Hoyt’s voice came loudly from outside. 

“Sam bloody Becker, my men said you were here, come out right now.” he yelled, not sounding pleased one bit. Keith could see a part of the man’s face changed when he heard the boss’s voice.

He watched as Sam walked out, acting like he was just refilling his pistol with new ammo. 

“Hoyt, I am here.” he said and Keith gulped when he heard the other man chuckling. Hoyt’s voice made him shiver in the worst way possible. 

“Sam Becker, hm?” he sounded doubtful, but Keith couldn’t say why. He wasn’t going to risk getting caught by looking at what was going on. “Took you long enough. Come inside with me. Now.”

Keith exhaled softly, gathering his thoughts. He looked outside of the other opening where the hole in the fence was, just two metres away from him. One glance to the sides assured him no one was there and everyone’s attention was to Hoyt and Sam. He made a dash for it, ducking through the fence and sneaking further through the grass. He was outside the camp. Finally.

Keith spared a glance back, seeing the sniper looking straight to the other side. He couldn’t help but let out a laugh. He’d done it! All by himself! And he was fucking bleeding all over the place, but it didn’t matter, because he was the one person who had escaped from Hoyt’s base.


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the comments and kudos, my lovely readers <3  
> I'm just so glad people are actually enjoying my story, and I hope I continue to please all of you~

Jason felt his eyelids fluttering as they stopped at the airport. This was it, huh? This was where he was gonna be the hero and save Oliver. The pirates looked at him questioningly and he nodded, making military gestures to where they were supposed to stand. Soon after, the pirates were all in their respective places, either crouching over at the west of the camp or hiding in and behind the buildings at the south.

He looked at Carlos who had positioned himself with a sniper on the top of the hill, overlooking the base. The man nodded and Jason gave the signal for the heavy Flamethrowers to grab the attention by walking in. The idea was they set fire to the plane if it was already there or when it came. But first they were meant to grab the attention before anyone could get caught.

Daisy was fiddling with her gun beside him, checking it again and again. She constantly made these nervous sighs as she stared worriedly into the air.

“How can you stay so calm, J?” she whispered, “I’m losing it… After all that’s happened to us already. Who knows what will happen when this is over…” she trailed off.

“I have to.” Jason replied calmly, watching the Flamethrowers getting busy distracting the first few privates. The mission had started as soon as the two heavy gunners started up their flamethrowers, making the privateers yelp in surprise and raise their guns. Before they could shoot, they were already burning up though. It reminded him to try one of those some time…

Jason signalled to the other men back at the building, watching as they came out from their hiding spots, taking out the two privateers next to the alarm with quick stabs from behind. They then resumed to their task at hand: disabling the alarm.

“That’s our cue, Daisy. We gotta go now. You ready?” for the first time in their conversation, Jason spared a glance over at the girl, who stood straighter and nodded.

“Yeah. For Oliver, right?”

Jason smiled at her, “For Oliver.”

They ran in rifles at the ready, Jason making sure there was no risk for either of them. Hoyt’s men had spotted them within seconds and he ducked behind one of the helicopters, shooting mercilessly as two of them rounded the corner. He looked back to see Daisy, her eyes wide as she glanced over at the man she’d shot.

“Nice one, come on!” Jason smiled at her briefly before running towards the nearest building, beckoning her to come with him. He pushed the door open and was welcomed by a disgusting scent. Holding his hand over his mouth he checked the room. In here was nothing out of the ordinary. Only there was a small animalistic sound coming from the door opening slightly further.

He moved towards it, reloading his gun at the same time before pushing the door open. Dozens of eyes pointed at him within seconds, growls emitting from the cages. Turned out not only humans were being sold here, apparently. Lined up, one after the other, were bamboo cages with all sorts of animals. Most intimidatingly, the tigers and bears. Jason walked further in, coming eye to eye with a tiger who bared his teeth at him and sneered. Jason his nose when he realised where the smell had come from. The privateers had been feeding the predators human flesh, rotting corpses were inside the beast’s cages, their skeletons lacking flesh. It looked even worse than in the movies… and that smell.

Maybe it was one of Hoyt’s many punishments: getting fed to the animals here. Jason wouldn’t be surprised if it was the price of betraying him. It’d be very fitting, actually.

“Oliver!” he called out, inspecting all the captured beasts (disco-chickens, giant lizards and bears) before turning his back to them and running out again. Only animals in there.

“No luck?” Daisy asked, her breathing heavy and hair disheveled. Judging by the bodies lying on the ground not far away from her, she’d used her bullets well.

Jason shook his head and pointed at the next building. “You try that one. Call for him, see if there are humans inside. In here were only animals.”

“You want us to split up?” she grumbled incredulously, obviously not pleased.

Jason took her by the shoulders, pushing her down so they dodged the bullets shot at them by the alarmed privateers.

“Yeah. You go north, I go west. Now!” the two of them got in motion again and Jason was surprised by how skilful Daisy was handling the situation. Maybe she’d gotten stronger too, but hadn’t realised it yet.

He focused back on the outpost, looking around at the battlefield in front of him. It calmed him to see that the majority of the men still standing were pirates, the yellow-clothed privates slowly dying out and falling to the ground one by one.

Jason ran towards the third helicopter, covering Daisy and shooting twice before sliding over the ground and crouching down. Behind him was a loud gunshot and he turned around, panting in exhaustion and surprise. Less than a metre away was a dead privateer, a bullet having shot clean through his head. Jason’s gaze went over to the hill at the west side, smirking as he did. Even from this far away, he could see Carlos sticking up his thumb.

—

Hoyt hissed at Sam, baring his teeth and hoping to make him flinch. His blood was boiling, his mind screaming at him to kill. Not that Sam really deserved death, it was just his impulsivity coming up again. He tried to repress it at times, but now that those absolute /fools/ had let his Keith escape from one of the most secured outposts on Rook Island, he was absolutely seething with anger.

“I have an idea, Sam.” he growled, pacing around in front of the German, “I feel like Jason Brody has influenced Vaas. He hasn’t been getting new slaves lately and he hasn’t killed Jason yet after I thought I’d made sure he would.”

Sam nodded at him, crossing his arms, “Ja, but what do you want me to do about it?”

Hoyt slammed his fists on the table, “Shut up! I’m thinking, you utter imbecile!” he pursed his lips, revelling in the sight of Sam being ever so surprised by his words. The change in his face was ever so soft, but Hoyt could see. He saw it all, every time.

“Jason’s been looking for his friends. How could I not have seen it earlier?” Hoyt thought out loud. _Does that mean he helped Keith escape? Doing so would be a risk if he still wants to rescue his other friend. The one heading for Yemen…_

“I want you to bring Vaas here, Sam. I need to have a word with him on certain matters.”

“What about Keith?” Sam replied and Hoyt thought it through. Would that bitch really have escaped without any help from his friends? That was impossible to Hoyt, for Keith looked weaker than all of them. Even his eyes showed he’d already given up on even trying.

“I’ll send patrols. He can’t be far.” Hoyt turned around and opened his drawers, throwing out some trash while searching for his gun. It wasn’t there… nor was the ammo. “The whore took my pistol.” he muttered, baffled and angry. How dare he take it? It had been giving to young Hoyt by his father. A perfectly fine silver pistol with golden lining along the edges, his father’s name inscribed in the back. It wasn’t like he was sentimental towards his father, but more so towards the gun. It had been the first gun with which he’d killed someone. The first gun to help him become stronger than the others.

He stared into space or a long time, before Sam took him out of his revery by coughing, “I’ll get Vaas.”

The boss nodded at him, eyes turning cold again. “Make sure he’s there within half an hour.”

—

Jason kicked the door in, feeling hope bloom up in his chest. The door had been locked, so there had to be something important in there, right?

“Oliver! It’s me!” he ran forwards, for the first time hearing the sounds of human groans and pleas instead of animals’. He looked around, sparing a glance at every one of them and ignoring the natives’ begging entirely. Jason didn’t forgive them, probably never would.

At the back there was a man with a yellow shirt, looking much like Ollie. Jason hastily walked up to the cage, watching as the man’s body slowly rose and fell with his breaths. His back was turned towards Jason and he was facing the wall.

“Ollie?” Jason murmured, putting his hand through the cage carefully and shaking the man’s shoulder. He stirred in his sleep and turned around quickly, a fearful look on his face before he noticed it was Jason.

“Jay?” Oliver whispered, his eyes wide and scared, “Is that really you, man? Woah, what’s happened, are you all right?” Oliver motioned to Jason’s wound on the arm, where a bullet had grazed over it, leaving a trail of blood behind.

“I’m alright. Really, c’mon, let’s get you out.” Jason took a knife from his belt and started cutting the rope and bamboo with which the cage was held close. After a minute of chopping into the wood, it broke and the cage opened with a squeaky sound.

Oliver got out quickly, smiling from ear to ear and hugging Jason tightly. He seemed to be the least affected of his friends by what Jason looked like. At first he’d looked concerned, but after Jason had told him he was okay, that had quickly been replaced by relief.

“Man, I thought I was gonna be sold! Jason, you’ve got no idea how glad I am to see you. You’re looking cool, too. So that has to be a plus!”

Jason felt he was chuckling in an instant. He’d forgotten how light-hearted Ollie could be about situations like this and how he was a master at keeping a positive look on everything. Jason hugged him close before letting him go.

“Have this,” he handed Ollie one of his spare rifles and watched as the other man’s mouth dropped in surprise, “There’s a bunch of Hoyt’s lackeys outside, so you better be prepared, okay?”

Oliver nodded warily and Jason tried to reassure him by squeezing his shoulder once. They headed for the door, but Oliver stopped him. Jason turned around, frowning, and following Oliver’s gaze. He was looking at the men and women in the cages. They really didn’t have time for this.

“You know, J, these guys were kind and talked to me and all. Wouldn’t it suck to leave ‘em like this?”

Jason cursed his friend’s sympathetic heart and bit on his lip as he looked at all the cages. There had to be at least twenty of them, some with two people inside. “I don’t know, Oliver. If we don’t leave soon enough, Hoyt will find out and he might be on our doorstep in a few minutes. We can’t have that.” Jason felt bad at seeing Oliver’s face falter and he tried to make it better. “Once we’re out of here, I’m gonna kill Hoyt, alright? There’ll be no more victims. But before that we have to escape as soon as possible, or we’re gonna get caught and I’ll never be able to kill him.”

Ollie nodded, his lips turning into a thin line. Jason felt like it was one of the hardest things to do on the island: having to disappoint his friends and brothers by making these split-second decisions. The smartest decision was often hurtful to his friends, but he felt like it helped the greater good more. In here, it was often the needs of the greater good versus the needs of the few, with the few being his sentimental friends. But Jason felt like the needs of the many outweighed the needs of the few by much, even if it meant hurting the ones he loved. However, was it the right choice in the end?

 _No time to be philosophical,_  Jason told himself, shaking his head, _time to go back and finish this._

He pulled Oliver along by the arm, turning his back to him because he just didn’t want to see the look of utter disappointment on his friend’s face. It hurt too much knowing he’d caused it. Oliver had gone through too much already. He forced himself to move on as he looked around outside the building to check if there weren’t any enemies left. Most were already dead, with a few pirates walking around and looting the bodies for ammo and money.

“I think we’re save.”

—

Keith had run, run, run, passing hundreds of trees, funky chickens and scarily empty temples on his way. He had finally allowed himself to rest when he felt like he’d been running for hours even though the sun had only moved a little bit. He fell on his knees beside the streaming river and had a flashback of that program of Bear Grylls, the survivor-guy. He remembered watching it often after a day of hard work, letting himself relax with a beer in his hand and watching some other guy eat the guts of a goat. God, Keith shuddered at the thought and hoped he’d be able to find something more decent. He didn’t feel at all like someone who could easily survive in the jungle.

He checked the river quickly to see if there wasn’t anything suspicious in there before allowing himself to dip his hands in and simply slurp the water quite unceremoniously. It wasn’t like manners were important here, nor was anyone watching him. Right?

Keith shivered at the thought, looking around carefully. Suddenly the dim blackness behind the trees didn’t look as welcoming as before. Maybe he should’ve stayed at that temple. No, there wasn’t any water there and he’d sworn he’d seen snakes there. Was there any way to survive in the jungle?

Keith walked downriver, following its stream. That survival-tip was probably the only one he’d remembered. Always go where the river goes, because that’s often where people build their cities. He thought back about that woman in Brazil, she’d been on the news. The woman had gone upriver and Keith remembered mocking her because she should’ve gone exactly the other way. He felt bad for it now. He probably wouldn’t be able to survive for as long she did: 17 days in the wild wilderness.

Keith crossed the river by wading through it when he finally saw some houses down the mountain. So the downriver-thing had been true after all! He smiled to himself, puffing up his chest. Before he could get to the other side, a man with a hat not far away from him waved his arms rapidly, shaking his head at him wildly. Keith frowned stopping in the water. He heard the man yelling at him, but the sound of the water drowned it out.

The man walked into the river too, still holding his hands up, “Croco-” was the only thing he could make out in the man’s broken English speech. The man walked forward again, but he stopped in his tracks suddenly, his entire body freezing. In less than a second, a crocodile had lunged forward towards the native and Keith shrieked at the sight of blood pooling from the man’s legs. The man was dragged under the water in a quick motion and Keith saw how the crocodile was rolling through the water, breaking the man’s necks and all the rest of his limbs. He stumbled back quickly, but heard the low growl of another crocodile at the other side of the river, only now noticing he’d just avoided it by only a few metres.

He trembled, looking forward again and deciding that was probably the best option. Either a hungry crocodile or a currently eating crocodile, the latter was probably the best. Keith just had to be quick about it. He sprinted, trying to dodge the lotus flowers so their roots wouldn’t pull him back down in the water. The blood had already spread through the river and Keith couldn’t help but look back at the man who was being torn to pieces.

He whimpered at the sight and felt his stomach turning while trying to look away from the ferocious view. None of the horror movies he’d ever seen could beat this experience. Keith’s mind was going crazy, giving him a headache, telling him of danger and that he had to run away as quick as he possibly could and so he did, stumbling through the bushes and making his way towards the village. He ran downhill and felt himself trip over a stone, falling down and rolling off of the mountain over stones and sand and finally against a tree where he was stopped. His face was full of tears and the wounds that had healed just an hour before were open again and bleeding steadily.

The last thing Keith noticed was being pulled up by a man in a red shirt and being dragged towards the village where he got dumped in one of the huts. He hadn’t had a chance to struggle, Keith felt breathless and as though his senses had gone dull.

_Worst day ever…_


End file.
